Thursday, October 1, 2026
The New York Riptide gave the best team in the National Lacrosse League everything it could handle Sunday afternoon but would end up with a familiar result.
After a huge rally that gave it a three-goal lead with seven minutes remaining, the Riptide gave up a pair of power-play goals in the final two minutes and the winning goal early in overtime for a wild 18-17 loss to the Buffalo Bandits at the Nassau Coliseum.
Callum Crawford scored three times, including the 400th of his indoor lacrosse career, and Jake Fox, Jeff Teat and Larson Sundown also netted three for New York (1-5), which suffered its third overtime loss of the season despite going 6-for-10 on the power play while also scoring a shorthanded goal.
“It just sucks when you lose,” Crawford said of his milestone. “It’s something maybe when I stop being a baby and a sore loser, I’ll be able to enjoy it, but that game was ours. We did a lot to be able to win it, but it slipped away from us.”
Chris Cloutier netted the game-winner in overtime to give the Bandits their first 5-0 start since 2009. Tehoka Nanticoke had four goals and two assists, Josh Byrne scored three times, and Dhane Smith had two tallies and nine helpers for Buffalo, which faced the Riptide for the first time in its history.
New York was trailing 14-10 in the final minute of the third quarter when Sundown scored a power-play goal from the slot. Fox converted Teat’s pass from a sharp angle almost three minutes into the fourth and Crawford brought the Riptide to within one 48 seconds later. Jay Thorimbert won the ensuing faceoff and raced down the middle of the floor to score four seconds after that, and Sundown gave New York its first lead of the game with another man-advantage goal with just under 10 minutes left.
Connor Kearnan and Teat then scored power-play goals almost two minutes apart for a 17-14 advantage.
“The guys in the second half really stepped up and played to the level that we have to to beat a team like Buffalo,” Riptide head coach Dan Ladouceur said.
After Chase Fraser’s goal cut Buffalo’s deficit to two with 3:51 left, Thormibert was hit with a five-minute high-sticking penalty and Damon Edwards followed with a holding-the stick call with 1:48 left to put the Bandits up two men. They took full advantage when Connor Fields converted a rebound for his third goal of the game and Byrne ripped a shot past Riptide goalie Steve Orleman (39 saves) with 21.3 seconds left to tie it.
“Big momentum swings,” Teat said. “Special teams played a big part of this game. We had our chances, and they had their chances.”
Cloutier bounced a shot by Orleman from the right point 1:11 into overtime to seal the Bandits’ win.
The Riptide visit Halifax and Georgia the next two weeks before continuing its quest for its first-ever home victory on Feb. 26 when the Toronto Rock visit on “Youth Lacrosse Night.”
