By TOM BORRELLI
First against last. Usually in sports, worst has no problem getting psyched to play against first.The Buffalo Bandits are first in the Major Indoor Lacrosse League and the Charlotte Cobras are in last place. Their paths cross for the first time at 8 tonight in Memorial Auditorium.
“We all know what happens when first plays against worst,” Bandits captain Brian Hall said. “If they get blown out, well, that’s what was supposed to happen, that’s what people expected. But if we should get beat. … We can’t underestimate them or take them lightly in any way.”
There was a time when it was tough to take the Bandits seriously around the MILL, like when the team lost its first three games of its first season — 1992. But Buffalo proved it doesn’t take long for a new team to reverse its fortunes by winning its next 22 games, including a pair of North American Cup championships.
The Rochester Knighthawks also proved it in their first season — 1995. After starting 2-4, the Knighthawks beat the Bandits twice to end the regular season, then reached the championship game by upsetting the Boston Blazers in the semifinals.
Chris Bates
Charlotte, in its first MILL season, is in a much deeper hole at 0-6. The Cobras entered the season with only two players (forward Chris Bates and goaltender Dwight Maetche) with MILL experience. “Our guys have come together in a lot of ways, but unfortunately, it hasn’t translated into a win,” said Cobras head coach Joe Seivold, a four-time all-American midfielder in the mid-’80s at the University of North Carolina.
“We’ve had a very big learning curve but we haven’t been able to get over the hump,” Seivoid said. “The guys recognize it’s going to be a tough road. But the only head hanging has been over self disappointment. There’s been no finger pointing or dissension at all”.
Because of its location and league rules, Charlotte didn’t have a chance to tap the Canadian box lacrosse leagues for talent the way Buffalo and Rochester did. MILL rules allow Buffalo to dress 12 Canadian players per game, Rochester is allowed six and the rest of the league’s teams are allowed to dress three.
As a result, the transition to the indoor game has come at a slower rate because most of the Cobras’ players came directly from the American college field game.
Charlotte’s two best efforts have come on the road, a 15-10 loss at Rochester on Jan. 20 and a 14-10 defeat at Baltimore on Feb. 10. They’ve lost their three home games — where they’ve drawn an average of only 3,354 fans per game — by 11.3 goals. But on the road, they’ve lost three times by an average of 6.3 goals.
“We can’t afford to focus on stuff like beating Buffalo just because they’re the unbeaten team,” Seivoid said. “We need to focus on the smaller goals like getting to loose balls and winning faceoffs, which won’t be easy against them. If we do the small things well, it may put us in position to win.”
At 4-0, Buffalo comes off perhaps its most impressive game of the season, a 14-9 victory at Rochester on Feb. 10.
“If some of our guys think this will be a game where they can just run up and down the floor and pile up the points, they’re dreaming,” Bandits coach Les Bartley said. “Charlotte is an athletic team and they’re still learning the indoor game. They caused Rochester to do a few back flips up there and they’re getting better from game to game. Plus, I’m never really comfortable right after having a week off.”
“As much as everybody says they won’t be complacent, there always seems to be one of those types of games during the season.” Buffalo forward Rich Kilgour said. “What scares you about (Charlotte) is that they have absolutely nothing to lose now. It’s a very dangerous situation for us and hopefully, we can get that point across to everybody.’’
About 2,000 tickets remain for tonight’s game.
Troy Cordingley
Bandits update: F Rich Kilgour returns after missing one game because of an ankle sprain, . .. F Jim Veltman, who led the MILL in loose-ball recoveries in all of his first four MILL seasons, is second on his own team this season. He has 48 recoveries, 14 fewer than starting G Pat O’Toole. . .
Buffalo’s last home game against a first-year franchise was last Feb. 25 against Rochester. The Knighthawks led, 10-1, at halftime en route to a 13-8 victory.
Cobras update: F Pat McCready is the son of Bob “Buff” McCready, who was Buffalo’s first head coach during the 1992 season. McCready, a 21-year-old St. Catharines, Ont. native, is tied as team’s second-leading scorer. “So either way, 1 win,” said Buff McCready, who will attend tonight’s game. . .
F Chris Bates and G Dwight Maetche are former members of the Philadelphia Wings. Maetche was in goal for the second half and overtime the night Buffalo won its first MILL title in the CoreStates Spectrum.
