The Buffalo Bandits came back to beat the Saskatchewan Rush 16-15 in overtime on Friday in Saskatoon, handing the Rush their first loss of the 2017-18 National Lacrosse League (NLL) season.
Saskatchewan was leading 9-3 going into the second half, but Buffalo wasn’t finished.
The Bandits’ Josh Byrne tied it up 15-15 with 19 seconds left on the clock in the fourth quarter.
In sudden-death overtime, Buffalo’s Pat Saunders was the hero for the visitors at SaskTel Centre.
The Bandits’ offence was led by Dhane Smith, who had four goals and five assists, and Mitch Jones with three goals and seven assists.
Robert Church and Ben McIntosh both had hat tricks for the Rush. Mark Matthews led the team in points with two goals and six assists.
Saskatchewan’s Evan Kirk kept 42 shots out of the net. Bandits goaltender Zach Higgins made 34 saves out of 45 shots and Alex Buque took six shots and made two saves.
This is the first of two meetings this season between the Rush and Bandits (3-3). They will clash again on March 16 in Buffalo, N.Y.
The Calgary Roughnecks (1-4) will host the Rush (4-1) on Jan. 27.