In what was likely the final indoor lacrosse game ever played in the Capital Centre, the Eastern Division champion Washington Power fell to the visiting Buffalo Bandits, 23-22, Saturday night as veteran stars John Tavares, Gary Gait, and Paul Gait all reached double-digits in points.

Tavares racked up thirteen points on three goals and ten assists, coming within one of tying the single-game records for assists and points, while Gary Gait posted twelve (three goals, nine assists) and Paul tallied eleven of his own (four goals, eleven assists) in the last regular season game of his career.

Kip Fulks scored the first goal of the game and Jeff Wills quickly followed his lead to put the Power up 2-0 just two minutes into the game. Craig Gelsvik replied for the Bandits a minute later, and Mike Accursi tied it at two with a power play goal at 3:31. Marc Landriault gave the Bandits their first lead of the game two minutes later. Fulks tied the game again five minutes later, and then Paul Gait and Matt Shearer gave the Power a two-goal lead with two and a half minutes remaining in the first quarter. Landriault netted his second of the night to bring the Bandits within a goal heading into the second stanza.

Forty-six seconds into the new quarter, the Bandits found themselves down two players when they were called for a pair of too many men penalties at the same time. Shearer and Paul Gait both capitalized on those penalties, putting the Power ahead 7-4. Roy Colsey made it 7-5, but Wills added his second goal of the night to give the Power back its three-goal lead. Colsey, John Tavares and Pat McCready all scored for Buffalo, and the game was suddenly tied at 8 with seven and a half minutes to go before intermission.

Gary Gait gave the Power back the lead for a minute before Accursi scored a pair and McCready added another to give the Bandits a two-goal lead, at 11-9, with just over two minutes to play in the half. Shearer scored his fourth goal of the game to bring Washington within a goal, but Buffalo's Pat Maddalena scored the last goal of the quarter and the Bandits took a 12-10 lead into the locker room.

Del Halladay opened the third quarter scoring less than thirty seconds into the second half, bringing the Power back within a goal yet again. Rich Kilgour and Randy Fraser each netted a goal for the Bandits and gave Buffalo the biggest lead it had all night, 14-11. Paul Gait and Paul Cantabene each snuck the ball past Bandits goaltender Ken Montour within thirty seconds of each other and again the Power were within a goal of the Bandits. Maddalena restored the two-goal cushion twenty seconds later, but Wills and Fulks knotted the game at fifteen.

Tavares and Paul Gait traded goals, then Tavares and Shearer did the same to tie the game at seventeen with three minutes left in the third quarter. Jonas Derks gave the Bandits back their lead with just ten seconds left on the clock and Buffalo entered the final period with an 18-17 lead.

Washington went on a five-goal tear for the first ten minutes of the fourth quarter, getting goals from Cantabene, Shearer, John Rosa and a pair from Gary Gait to end up with a 22-18 lead with less than five minutes remaining before the final whistle. It looked like the Power was going to run away with this game to be able to take the momentum of a big win into the playoffs. The Bandits, however, had other ideas. First, Accursi got the ball past Erik Miller, then Colsey found the back of the net twice and the Bandits were again on the Powers heels, only down by a goal. Derks tied the game at 22 with less than a minute remaining, and then netted the game winner with just ten seconds on the clock.

Rookie netminder Ken Montour stopped 44 of 68 shots in the first start of his career. Power goalies Devin Dalep and Erik Miller shared the duties in net with Dalep stopping 22 of 34 shots in the first half and Miller stopping 21 of 32 in the second half.

BOX SUMMARY
                                      1  2  3  4     TOT
Buffalo Bandits (8-8)                 4  8  5  6  --  23
Washington Power (9-7)                5  5  7  5  --  22

BUFFALO BANDITS               WASHINGTON POWER
               G - A   PTS                   G - A   PTS
J Tavares      3 -10    13    G Gait         3 - 9    12
Maddelena      2 - 6     8    P Gait         4 - 7    11
McCready       2 - 6     8    Shearer        6 - 3     9
Colsey         4 - 2     6    Wills          2 - 3     5
Landriault     2 - 4     6    Halladay       1 - 4     5
Derks          3 - 2     5    Fulks          3 - 0     3
Accursi        4 - 0     4    Cantebene      2 - 1     3
R Kilgour      1 - 3     4    Rosa           1 - 2     3
Fraser         1 - 0     1    Donovan        0 - 2     2
Gelsvik        1 - 0     1    Dalep          0 - 1     1
Couling        0 - 1     1    Gallant        0 - 1     1
Langdale       0 - 1     1    Standish       0 - 1     1
Montour        0 - 1     1    
Seller         0 - 1     1    

Shots on goal           66    Shots on goal           68
Saves made by (GA)      46    Saves made by (GA)      43
   Montour (22)      46          Dalep (12)        22
                                 E Miller (11)     21
Penalties               11    Penalties                8
Penalty Minutes         25    Penalty Minutes         19
Power Play Chances       5    Power Play Chances       8
Power Play Goals         4    Power Play Goals         6
   Accursi            2          P Gait             2
   Maddalena          1          Shearer            2
   J Tavares          1          G Gait             1
                                 Halladay           1
Shorthanded Goals        2    Shorthanded Goals        0
   McCready           1          (None)
   J Tavares          1
Loose Balls             99    Loose Balls            113
   Montour           24          Dalep             12
   McCready          19          Brothers          10
   Gelsvik           11          Gallant           10
Faceoffs Won            24    Faceoffs Won            26
   Fraser       (17-14)          Cantabene    (17-13)
   Accursi      ( 5-10)          Brothers     ( 9-10)
   Derks        ( 2- 1)          Horsey       ( 0- 1)
   Langdale     ( 0- 1)          

 *** STATS OFFICIAL BY VERIFY WITH WASHINGTON POWER ***