TORONTO -- Ryan Benesch scored seven goals to lead the Buffalo Bandits to a 15-13 win over the Toronto Rock in the National Lacrosse League East semifinal Saturday night. Matt Besler USA Jersey . The Bandits, who were the only team in the nine-team league to miss the playoffs last season, will meet the Rochester Knighthawks in a two-game East final. Buffalos other goal scorers were John Tavares, with two, Mark Steenhuis, Andrew Watt, Shawn Williams, Jamie Rooney, Dhane Smith and Chad Culp. Buffalo outshot Toronto 57-54. Kasey Beirnes scored four goals for the Rock, Colin Doyle and Nick Diachenko scored three each, Josh Sanderson got two, and Rob Hellyer chipped in with one. Stephan Leblanc, Torontos leading goal scorer with 45 during the regular season, was unable to put a ball behind Bandits goalie Anthony Cosmo. Buffalo led 4-2 after one quarter and 8-7 after two. Benesch, whose 25-goal regular season was his least productive in five years, put four balls behind Rock goalie Brandon Miller in the first half. Beirnes tied it 8-8 early in the third quarter. Then, Buffalo was assessed a slashing penalty to Billy Dee Smith at the same time it was nabbed for too many men and Sanderson gave Toronto its first lead, 9-8, during the two-man advantage. Benesch scored his fifth and sixth around a goal by Diachenko to send the teams to the fourth quarter tied 10-10. Tavares, the Bandits 45-year-old captain, restored Buffalos lead and Smith made it 12-10 when he pulled a ball out of Torontos crease to beat Miller. Diachenko replied for the Rock. But Benesch fired an overhand bullet into the top corner of the net on a power play for a 13-11 Buffalo lead with Damon Edwards in the penalty box for a high hit on Rory Smith. Diachenko, who scored two goals in three regular-season games with the Rock, got his third of the night and Culp offset it. Beirnes scored his fourth of the game but Tavares kept Buffalo ahead by two with a power-play goal. With one minute remaining it was desperation time for the Rock. Miller was lifted for an extra attacker to no avail. The Bandits entered the post-season on an eight-game losing streak while Toronto had won its last four regular-season games. Buffalo open the East final at home next weekend. Game 2 will be in Rochester on May 17. Should the teams split, a 10-minute mini-game and sudden-death overtime, if needed, will immediately follow the second game. Jozy Altidore World Cup Jersey .* In total, more than 8 million unique viewers tuned in to watch the Raptors battle the Nets in this unforgettable series. Five of the games from the series now rank among the Top 10 audiences in the teams history. Sundays Game 7 attracted an average audience of 912,000 viewers to TSN from tip-off to final buzzer - making it the third most-watched Raptors game ever.Alejandro Bedoya Jersey . The Pistons were tougher inside, tougher on defence and tougher at fending off challenges.TEMPE, Ariz. - The Arizona Cardinals have signed two free agents and re-signed linebacker Marcus Benard to a one-year contract. The team signed centre-guard Ted Larsen to a two-year contract and running back Jonathan Dwyer to a one-year deal. Benard appeared in 12 games for Arizona last season, one as a starter after joining the team on Oct. 2 following his release by the New England Patriots last August. Kyle Beckerman World Cup Jersey. He had 16 tackles, 2 1/2 sacks and one forced fumble. Larsen played the last three seasons with Tampa Bay, where he had 31 starts: 20 at guard and 11 at centre. He played in all 16 games each of the last three seasons. Dwyer played the last four seasons with Pittsburgh, running for 971 yards and two touchdowns on 230 carries. ' ' ' |