It may be a small consolation prize, but the Syracuse Smash will go into the off-season with the knowledge that it is a better lacrosse team than it was last season.

That became official on the last day of the regular season, as Syracuse defeated Buffalo 14-11 Saturday night before an announced crowd of 3452 at the War Memorial. The victory snapped a seven-game losing streak for the Smash, which finished its second season in the National Lacrosse League with a 3-9 record. Syracuse was 2-12 a year ago.

The Smash came up with a gritty defensive effort a week after allowing 26 goals in a nine-goal loss at Baltimore. That it came against Buffalo (4-8), a veteran team that was out of the playoffs for the first time in its eight-year existence, didn't seem to matter afterward.

"We always hustle," player-coach Steve Scaramuzzino said. "The difference this time was we made no stupid mistakes. We just went out and played hard and had fun."

It didn't look as if it was going to be much fun at the outset, as Buffalo star John Tavares scored two of his game-high five goals in the opening minute. But Syracuse battled back and took a 4-3 lead on Del Halladay's goal with 1:54 left in the opening quarter, and Buffalo never caught up.

"It was a pride game," bench coach Freeman Bucktooth said. "This was a real big win for us to build on for next year."

The Smash built this victory on superb goaltending from Derek Collins and big defensive efforts from Bruce Alexander, Owen Benedict, Al Jones, Barry Thornton, Tony Millon and Scaramuzzino.

"We protected the doorstep pretty well," Bucktooth said. "We're still a couple of defensemen away from being a real good team, but these guys played hard tonight."

On offense, the Smash took the pressure off Paul Gait by supporting the superstar with a balanced attack. Gait led the way with three goals and three assists, but he got plenty of help from Halladay (3-2), Todd Oudemoul (1-4), Jeff Klodzen (1-4), Charlie Lockwood (2-1), Alexander (1-2) and Mike Accursi (two goals).

"It helps when you have to shut down more than one guy," Bucktooth said. "And Paul did a good job passing the ball around and finding the open men."

BOX SUMMARY
                                  1  2  3  4     TOT
Buffalo Bandits (4-8)             3  1  2  5  --  11
Syracuse Smash (3-9)              4  4  2  4  --  14

BUFFALO BANDITS               SYRACUSE SMASH
               G - A   PTS                   G - A   PTS
Tavares        4 - 2     6    P Gait         3 - 3     6
Kisslinger     3 - 2     5    Halladay       3 - 2     5
Driscoll       1 - 3     4    Klodzen        1 - 4     5
Stevenson      1 - 2     3    Oudemool       1 - 4     5
Fisher         1 - 1     2    Lockwood       2 - 1     3
Rothfuss       1 - 1     2    Alexander      1 - 2     3
T Kilgour      0 - 2     2    Accursi        2 - 0     2
Batley         0 - 1     1    Fay            1 - 1     2
R Kilgour      0 - 1     1    Jones          0 - 2     2
McDermott      0 - 1     1    Millon         0 - 1     1
Silcott        0 - 1     1    Powless        0 - 1     1
                              Seremet        0 - 1     1

Shots on goal           64    Shots on goal           70
Saves made by (GA)      56    Saves made by (GA)      53
   Disher (14)       56          Collins (11)      53
Loose Balls Recovered   11    Loose Balls Recovered   18
Faceoffs Won            83    Faceoffs Won            85

*** STATS OFFICIAL BY CONFIRM WITH BUFFALO NEWS ***

Thanks to Brent Clark for providing the game stats.