The New York Saints became the final team to lose a game on the young season when they were defeated at home, 16-13, by the Buffalo Bandits early Sunday evening at Nassau Coliseum.

The home team was led by its top scorer Roy Colsey, as well as Rusty Kruger, both of whom tallied three goals apiece. Gavin Prout, the NLL's Rookie of the Week a week ago, chipped in with two goals and seven assists.

The Bandits were paced by John Tavares and Chris Driscoll, with four goals each, and goaltender Steve Dietrich, named the player of the game.

The game started out promising for the Saints, when, after being called for a too-many-men penalty, they cashed in on the shorthanded situation. Prout would draw the attention of two Buffalo players, quickly dish the pass to teammate Kris Bryde, who slammed home the man-down goal.

The Bandits would run off six goals, though, before the Saints could tally again. During this sequence, Buffalo worked a similar play to frequent success. Moving into the zone with little resistance, a quick diagonal pass across the crease resulted in a rapid slam past goaltender Gee Nash’s right shoulder.

Colsey opened his account at 11:59 of the first quarter when the Saints, on a much-needed power play, set up "Rocket Roy" for his patented bounce shot, which Dietrich was powerless to stop. With forty-one seconds to go in the first quarter, Scott Self brought the Saints closer with a falling-down-in-front shot off a nice pass from Prout. And just six seconds before the buzzer, Colsey fired another bounce shot from forty feet away that pulled the Saints back to within two goals.

The second period saw New York score two more goals, sandwiched around two by Buffalo. At the half the score was now 8–6 in Buffalo’s favor.

At the start of the third, Jonas Derks scored for the Saints, but Buffalo quickly got that back on a goal by Kyle Couling. However, the Saints put together a three-goal run and took their first lead of the game. With a little over six minutes left in the third period, three-time All-American Gavin Prout fired a pass to Colsey, forcing Dietrich to go post-to-post, allowing Colsey to deliver a touch pass to Rusty Kruger, who slammed home the goal giving New York the lead, 10-9. However, the Saints would allow Tavares space on the outside, and his long shot flew past a screened Gee Nash, knotting the score once more. Buffalo then added two more to close out the period up by a pair, 12-10.

At the start of the final stanza, Buffalo scored three consecutive goals before New York could mount a late comeback. Now down by five, the Saints furiously attacked the Bandit goal crease. At the seven-minute mark, Prout whipped home a pretty, behind-the-back shot on a nifty pass from Josh Black. The play picking up and getting much more physical here, both New York’s John Rosa and Buffalo’s Chris Langdale were sent off with penalties.

With just under three minutes to go, Derks fired home his second goal on a pass from Colsey and the lead was cut to three. A minute later, Prout scored an overpowering shot from the outside and now the Saints were down by only two.

On a wild sequence with just under thirty seconds to go in the game and their goaltender pulled for an extra attacker, the Saints furiously peppered Dietrich. After the Buffalo netminder withstood all New York could throw at them, Colsey -- in a classy display of sportsmanship -- leaned over and hugged the embattled Buffalo netminder. It was a move of admiration for a worthy opponent.

But with just eight seconds to go, Buffalo would take possession and Tavares quickly scored into the empty Saints net.

The Saints, now 2-1 on the season, travel to Albany on Friday to play the Attack at the Pepsi Arena, and return home on 12 January to take on the Philadelphia Wings at 8:00 PM. Also 2-1, Buffalo hosts Philadelphia in its next game, on Saturday, 29 December.

BOX SUMMARY
                                      1  2  3  4     TOT
Buffalo Bandits (2-1)                 6  2  4  4  --  16
New York Saints (2-1)                 4  2  4  3  --  13

BUFFALO BANDITS               NEW YORK SAINTS
               G - A   PTS                   G - A   PTS
J Tavares      4 - 4     8    Prout          2 - 7     9
Driscoll       4 - 3     7    Colsey         3 - 5     8
Accursi        1 - 3     4    Kruger         3 - 0     3
Langdale       1 - 2     3    Derks          2 - 0     2
R Powell       0 - 3     3    Frye           2 - 0     2
Kirkby         1 - 1     2    Self           1 - 0     1
McCready       1 - 1     2    Black          0 - 1     1
Mearns         1 - 1     2    K Bryde        0 - 1     1
Couling        1 - 0     1    Nash           0 - 1     1
Hackel         1 - 0     1    Rosa           0 - 1     1
Maddelena      1 - 0     1    
Seller         0 - 1     1    

Shots on goal           42    Shots on goal           56
Saves made by (GA)      43    Saves made by (GA)      26
   Dietrich (13)     43          Nash (15)         26
Penalties                9    Penalties                6
Penalty Minutes         18    Penalty Minutes         12
Power Play Chances       3    Power Play Chances       6
Power Play Goals         3    Power Play Goals         5
   Accursi            1          Derks              2
   Mearns             1          Kruger             2
   J Tavares          1          Colsey             1
Shorthanded Goals        0    Shorthanded Goals        1
   (None)                        Frye               1
Loose Balls             99    Loose Balls            113
   Ogilvie           16          Nash              13
   McCready          13          Frye              12
   Dietrich          10          Derks             11
   J Tavares         10
Faceoffs Won            14    Faceoffs Won            19
   Kirkby       (12-16)          Ghedina      (18-14)
   Accursi      ( 2- 3)          Prout        ( 1- 0)

  *** STATS OFFICIAL BY VERIFY WITH NEW YORK SAINTS ***