Game 2 on Sunday will require a cross-continent trip to British Columbia. It’s scheduled to start at 9 p.m. Eastern time at Rogers Arena.
BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Buffalo Bandits‘ offense never really got going in the quarterfinals of the National Lacrosse League playoffs.
That didn’t happen again Friday night at KeyBank Center, when the Bandits opened a best-of-3 semifinal series against the Vancouver Warriors. They scored six goals in the first 15 minutes and cruised to a 9-3 victory.
Vancouver struck first, but three goals in roughly five minutes by Ian MacKay, Dhane Smith, and Chase Fraser quickly gave the Bandits a lead it never relinquished. MacKay scored twice more in the second quarter before Tehoka Nanticoke made it 6-1 with a little more than five minutes left until halftime.
A Vancouver goal made it 6-2, but that was closest the Warriors got the rest of the game.
Matt Vinc made 32 saves on …