Sting Fall to Bandits 13-10
April 1, 2006 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Arizona Sting News Release
GLENDALE, ARIZONA --- The Arizona Sting were unable to douse the red hot Buffalo Bandits on Saturday, losing to the NLL's top team by a score of 13-10 in front of 6, 759 fans at Glendale Arena. The win was Buffalo's fifth straight. After a back-and-forth opening half, the Bandits took control in the third quarter, outscoring Arizona 4-1 to take a 10-6 lead into the fourth period. The Sting mounted a modest comeback, but were ultimately unable to overcome the four goal disadvantage with which they entered the final quarter. Craig Conn registered 3G-1A-4P in a losing effort while Lindsay Plunkett contributed 1G-4A-5P. The NLL's all-time leading scorer, John Tavares, tallied 2G-5A-7P in the game to lead the Bandits to victory. Head Coach Bob Hamley was frustrated with the loss but gave credit to his former team for putting forth a strong performance on the road.
"They played a good game," said Hamley. "Their shots were a lot better than ours, that's for sure. We had more shots on goal than they did, but they had more high quality shots, so that's something we'll really need to look at and work on. We have to put this loss behind us and get ready for a tough game tomorrow. Colorado has beaten us twice already, so we've got to go in to their building and turn the tables on them."
Arizona opened the scoring 4:08 into the first quarter on a goal by Craig Conn that was set up by Matt Brown. Kim Squire scored Buffalo's first goal 5:25 later on a feed from former Sting forward Cory Bomberry. Reigning NLL Offensive Player of the Week Mark Steenhuis gave the Bandits a 2-1 lead with a low shot that beat Sting goaltender Rob Blasdell on his left side. Dan Teat then scored his 18th goal of the season to give Buffalo a 3-1 advantage to conclude the opening period.
Cory Bomberry gave the Bandits a 4-1 lead 1:03 into the second quarter. With Craig Conn in the penalty box, Chris Seller netted his fifth short-handed goal of the season at the 5:53 mark of the second on a two-on-one break with Peter Lough, but Bomberry scored his second goal of the game shortly thereafter to make the score 5-2 in Buffalo's favor. Curt Malawsky then beat Bandits goaltender Steve Dietrich on a breakaway to earn his first goal at Glendale Arena as a member of the Sting at the 9:02 mark of the second period. Lindsay Plunkett then cut Buffalo's lead to one on the power play, but Pat McCready made the score 6-4 for the Bandits shortly thereafter on his 8th tally of the season. Rookie Matt Brown then pulled the Sting back to within one with a bullet shot that beat Steve Dietrich over his right shoulder. Brown's goal proved to be the final goal of the first half, as both teams' defenses played extremely well in the final minutes of the second quarter.
The Bandits opened the second half with two quick goals by Mark Steenhuis and John Tavares. Another pair of Buffalo goals were registered by Pat McCready and Kim Squire near the midway point of the third quarter to make the score 10-5 in favor of the Bandits. The Sting scored their first goal of the third quarter with 42.9 seconds remaining in the frame on Dan Dawson's 21st tally of 2006.
Arizona came out strong in the fourth quarter, with Pat Maddelena and Craig Conn each netting goals in the period's opening 90 seconds. Buffalo's Dan Teat scored his second goal of the night at 2:28 of the fourth period to re-establish a three goal Bandits advantage. Peter Veltman then scored a hard-fought goal by plowing through two Buffalo defenders and beating Steve Dietrich with a well placed shot, but John Tavares scored 56 seconds later to make the score 12-9 in Buffalo's favor. Cory Bomberry completed his hat trick with 3:18 remaining in regulation, and Craig Conn subsequently put the finishing touches on a hat trick of his own 1:17 after that. Conn's 39th goal of the season would prove to be the final tally of the game, as the Bandits held on for a 13-10 win to improve their league-best record to 9-4. Lindsay Plunkett, who led the Sting with 5 points (1G-4A), feels that his team needs to stay focused on the task at hand and not let a disappointing result against the Bandits affect their performance in tomorrow night's pivotal showdown with the Colorado Mammoth.
"It's tough, but you have to try and stay positive," said Plunkett. "We're still in the running for first place in the West and we can take a step back in the right direction tomorrow by beating Colorado at the Pepsi Center."
Game time Sunday is 6:00PM Arizona Time. The game can be seen live via logging into B2 Networks. Visit www.nll.com for more details.
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National Lacrosse League Stories from April 1, 2006
- Stealth Fall To Calgary, 12-10 - San Jose Stealth
- Sting Fall to Bandits 13-10 - Arizona Sting
- Roughnecks wreck Stealth - Calgary Roughnecks
- Philadelphia Runs Past Rochester - Philadelphia Wings
- Rock lose nailbiter to Swarm - Toronto Rock
- Stealth Loses To Bandits, 11-9 - San Jose Stealth
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