By Budd Bailey
The Buffalo Bandits started quickly in their game with the Las Vegas Desert Dogs on Friday night, and their youngest player on the field was the reason why.
About a minute into his first game in the National Lacrosse League, 20-year-old Lucas Nielsen took a pass from veteran Josh Byrne and found himself all alone in front of the net. Nielsen’s first shot as a Bandit became his first goal as a Bandit, as he beat Las Vegas goalie Justin Geddie.
The smile probably didn’t leave Nielsen’s face for the rest of the night. Suitably inspired, the Bandits rampaged through the Desert Dogs to take an 11-2 lead at halftime. The final score was a deceptive 13-10, but it was still a win before 18,474 in the KeyBank Center. The victory clinched a playoff spot for Buffalo with five games left in the regular season.
“He did O.K.,” coach John Tavares said about Nielsen. “He’s a good player. He’s young. I was really happy to go up to him this morning at the shootaround and tell him he was dressing for this one. He was getting tired of the song and dance that he wasn’t playing. But he’s understanding and very patient. He went in there and got his feet wet a little bit. He got a goal, and that was nice.”
Here’s how young Nielsen is: He was born in 2004 – less than a year before Matt Vinc, the Bandits’ 42-year-old goalie, was drafted in the NLL. Nielsen was a first-round draft choice of the Bandits in 2024, but had to sit in the stands for 12 games before he received the chance to debut in the NLL on Friday.
“Lucas doesn’t say many words,” Dhane Smith said. “I know he was smiling from ear to ear. It was amazing how the fans gave him a warm welcome. When he scored it got really loud in there, and he deserves it. He’s been grinding, hasn’t said anything bad (while waiting to play). Obviously he’s a young kid coming into the league, and it’s not easy to wait with the firepower we have. You have to sit and wait your turn.”
With that milestone out of the way, the rest of the Bandits went to work. On offense, every part of the attack was clicking. The ball was moving around with breathtaking speed, inevitably winding up in the Dogs’ net. Chris Cloutier and Smith had two goals each, and four other players also scored.
That added up to an 8-0 lead with less than 13 minutes gone in the first period. Since records started to be kept in 2005, the Bandits had never opened a game by scoring the first eight goals. The old record was 6-0.
“It’s just a lot of fun,” Cloutier said. “Those are the goals you get up for. Those are the goals that you all celebrate together. … It looks like Christmas morning on everyone’s face.”
It didn’t get much better in the second quarter for Las Vegas. The Bandits had an 11-2 lead at halftime - the most one-sided score in a Bandits game either way since at least 2014. From there, the game bogged down a bit. It’s difficult to maintain that level of intensity and efficiency for 60 minutes, and the Bandits had a bit of a letdown in the second half. Las Vegas scored eight of the last nine goals to make it a three-goal lead in the final seconds, but Buffalo was never in any serious danger of losing.
“When you’re up by a lot, you don’t attack the net as often,” Tavares said. “It seemed like offensively we stopped going to the cage the way we were doing it in the first half.”
Cloutier added, “We saw it coming. It’s definitely tough and it takes away from it a little. At the end of the day, it’s about the win and you’re happy to get that.”
Josh Byrne led the way with eight points, while Smith had seven. Cloutier was the only Bandit with a hat trick, and would have had a fourth goal had his not had a toe in the goal crease late int eh game.
“I’ve definitely been fighting it a little, but I always try to keep it in my mind that you do what you can do,” Cloutier said. “The guys around me will pick up the slack. If it’s not working for me, I’ll get someone open. It’s not a bad job to have when it’s tough for you. You’re getting Josh Byrne open as a default. It felt good to get back in the swing of things a little.”
The game was the first home contest for the two newest Bandits, Kiel Matisz and Ron John. They were acquired at the trading deadline by general manager Steve Dietrich, and may have given the team a good boost after a bit of a midseason flat spot. Dietrich has never been shy about sacrificing a bit of the future to improve the present, especially with a team that is a title contender. Last year, Paul Dawson was the perfect acquisition for a team that went on to win a championship. Now Matisz and John have looked like good fits.
“Anytime they make moves like that at the deadline – obviously you love the group that you have, but it shows that belief that we’re making a push at it,” Smith said. “We have great depth on our team, but sometimes you need that wakeup call. It makes you work a little harder because your spot could be taken at any time. Both guys are unbelievable players, both on the offensive and defensive end, which we never really had.”
The Bandits will go right back to work on Saturday night, as they play the FireWolves in Albany. The team hopped on a bus after the game for the trip down the Thruway. It’s never easy to play two games in two nights.
“We only have two guys (who sit out each game),” Tavares said. “I’d like to use everybody in back-to-back. I’ll see how the guys feel, see if anyone is injured. You never know what will happen. I’ll see where we are at the morning practice, and I’ll probably make some changes.”
Buffalo returns home on May 29 to host Vancouver.
(Follow Budd on X.com via @WDX2BB)
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