The Buffalo Bandits scored the final six goals of Saturday night's Eastern Division semifinal, defeating the Rochester Knighthawks, 13-9, in front of 7,029 fans at the Blue Cross Arena.

Mark Steenhuis earned Game MVP honors with five Bandit goals. Derek Malwasky led Rochester with five goals and three assists.

The Bandits move on to the Eastern final, where they'll visit the defending champion Toronto Rock next Sunday afternoon at Air Canada Centre.

Buffalo started the scoring two minutes in, on a goal by Steenhuis, and a minute later it was 2-0, a power play marker from Jonas Derks.

Malawsky scored the first goal for Rochester at 4:43, courtesy of a fluke play. Buffalo defenseman (and ex-K'Hawk Pat McCready) had, and then lost, possession in his own crease and the ball sneaked over the goal line.

John Tavares increased the lead to two at the eight-minute mark, but Rochester came back with two goals, one each from Steven Hoar and Malawsky, to tie the game at 3-3 after one quarter.

Just 42 seconds in the second quarter, Tavares scored again, but again, Rochester responded in bulk, scoring the next four goals -- Malawsky three times and Mat Giles once, for a 7-4 lead.

Derks stopped the bleeding with a little over two minutes to go, cutting Rochester's halftime lead to 7-5.

Rochester struck first in the third quarter, with a power play goal from Shawn Williams. Less than a minute later, though, ex-K'Hawk Jason Crosbie tallied a man-up goal of his own.

Thirty seconds later, Steenhuis tied the game for Buffalo with his second of the night.

Nobody scored then for almost ten minutes, until Ryan O'Connor and Derks traded late-quarter goals. 9-8, Rochester, after three.

The fourth quarter belonged entirely to the Bandits, who scored five goals while holding Rochester scoreless. Jason Clark tied the game at 2:27, then took the lead for good on Steenhuis' third of the night.

Buffalo then made sure there would be no comeback by scoring three more time, twice from Steenhuis and once from Derks, for a 13-9 final.

In goal, former Knighthawk Steve Dietrich made 33 saves to post the victory, while ex-Bandit Pat O'Toole lost despite 36 saves.

BOX SUMMARY
                                      1  2  3  4     TOT
E3 Buffalo Bandits (9-8, 1-0)         3  2  3  5  --  13
E2 Rochester Knighthawks (8-9, 0-1)   3  4  2  0  --   9

BUFFALO BANDITS               ROCHESTER KNIGHTHAWKS
               G - A   PTS                   G - A   PTS
Derks          4 - 3     7    D Malawsky     5 - 3     8
Steenhuis      5 - 0     5    O'Connor       1 - 2     3
Tavares        2 - 3     5    S Williams     1 - 2     3
Crosbie        1 - 2     3    Giles          1 - 1     2
Accursi        0 - 3     3    O'Toole        0 - 2     2
J Clark        1 - 1     2    Hoar           1 - 0     1
R Kilgour      0 - 2     2    Penny          0 - 1     1
Dietrich       0 - 1     1
Kazarian       0 - 1     1
Laverty        0 - 1     1
Shannon        0 - 1     1
BD Smith       0 - 1     1

Shots on goal           49    Shots on goal           42
Saves made by (GA)      33    Saves made by (GA)      36
   Dietrich (9)      33          O'Toole (13)      36
Penalties               11    Penalties                8
Penalty Minutes         25    Penalty Minutes         16
Power Play Chances       5    Power Play Chances       8
Power Play Goals         2    Power Play Goals         5
   Crosbie            1          D Malawsky         2
   Derks              1          Giles              1
                                 O'Connor           1
                                 S Williams         1
Shorthanded Goals        2    Shorthanded Goals        1
   Derks              1          D Malawsky         1
   Steenhuis          1
Loose Balls             77    Loose Balls             68
   Tavares           11          D Malawsky         8
   Laverty            8          Schiller           8
   McCready           8          Thorpe             7
   Ogilvie            8          
   Steenhuis          8          
Faceoffs Won            13    Faceoffs Won            13
   R Kilgour    (11-13)          Thorpe       ( 7- 7)
   Accursi      ( 2- 0)          Hoar         ( 4- 4)
                                 Soudan       ( 2- 2)

 *** STATS OFFICIAL BY VERIFY WITH ROCHESTER K'HAWKS ***