Going into yesterday, the Buffalo Bandits trailed the East-division leading Rochester Knighthawks by a half game and faced off at the First Niagara Center to either take the lead in the division or fall behind even further. With two of the best goalies in the league in Anthony Cosmo and Matt Vinc, scoring was going to be at a premium and the Bandits' Cosmo held the visiting Knighthawks to 3 goals through the 1st 3 quarters. However, the 3-time NLL goaltender of the year didn't have his usual strong game and the Bandits put up 10 goals on him before he was pulled from the game. The thing about box lacrosse is that no lead is safe and goals can be scored in bunches, completely changing a game. The 10-3 lead didn't hold up as the Knighthawks piled up 7 goals in the final quarter of play and, if not for a timely goal halfway through the quarter by local product Joe Resetarits, the defending champs would've tied up the game. As it was, a late barrage came up short when the Bandits' Jay Thorimbert won the final faceoff and killed the clock, preserving the 11-10 win and giving the Bandits sole possession of 1st place in the NLL East.
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| Danielle, Kirsten, Brianna, Lauren, and Chrissy |
I made it to the arena later than normal thanks to the roads and got inside just in time to get a few pics of Kirsten's line before they headed down to get ready for the game. A few of the girls were missing last night however, as Stephanie and Mandy had other engagements and couldn't make the game. On our way down to my seats, I heard a familiar voice, LB, who was headed down to get ready for the game with her line. My lateness didn't go unnoticed by LB, of course...lol.
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| Kirsten and Erin, who proves again that Buffalo choreographers are the best, but knockouts as well |
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| Kirsten, LB, Janelle, Chrissy, Amanda, and Brianna |
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| Chelsea, Amanda, and Kelsey |
The 1st time I went to a Bandits game, it was mostly to support Karla, a Bandette at the time I had gotten to know during her time on the Jills. After seeing the game in person, I loved it and decided to make it to more game and, in 2007, got season tickets. As luck would have it, I got, for my needs, the best seats in the house, with a great view of the Bandettes for photography purposes all game long. The one negative is that there's one corner of the area where they dance where it's awkward to get photos and sadly, whoever is dancing there usually gets fewer photos than the rest of the squad. The last two seasons, Danielle, on Kirsten's line, and Kelsey, on LB's line, have been the ones in that corner and I've done what I could to get them extra shots whenever I can. Last night, I got a little help in that when the lines switched in the 2nd half. Normally, LB and Kirsten are in the front with their lines with co-captains Chelsea and Chrissy in the back line. For the 2nd half, Chrissy and Chelsea were up front with the rest of their part of the line with them, putting Danielle and Kelsey up where they got on camera a lot more than normal. In fact, Danielle got on camera more than anyone else. Next week, hopefully blonde bombshell Kelsey will be one of the leaders.
Next up for the Bandettes, they'll be back in action next Saturday night as the Bandits play host to the Toronto Rock at First Niagara Center. The Bandettes won't be alone however as they'll be accompanied by the 2014 Jr Bandettes!
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