Patience is usually a virtue for a lacrosse goaltender but for the Ontario Raiders' Bob Watson, waiting is painful.

Watson, whose stellar play in net powered the Ontario Lacrosse League's Niagara Falls (now Buffalo) Gamblers to a spot in the Mann Cup finals last summer and almost took the Raiders to the National Lacrosse League playoffs this past spring, won't be able to assume that role again this year. Instead, he's facing a week of important medical appointments.

Last Wednesday night in the Gamblers' 13-5 road loss to the Brooklin Redmen, Watson's left eye and nose absorbed nearly the full force of a hard rubber lacrosse ball, coming in at well over 100 mph - faster than any major league baseball pitcher can throw.

"It happened on a bit of a screen," said Watson, who is still experiencing headaches. "(Brooklin forward) Ken Millen fired a screened shot from around a pick. I picked it up in the last 5 feet or so, but by then it was too late. I tried to turn my head away but I took it flush. It bent the bars (of his facemask) and came right through."

"It was just a horrible sight actually," said Bandits team president Lincoln Fannell. "The shot hit him in the face and he went down like he'd been shot."

Watson can't confirm that analogy because he's never been shot before. But he knows the bullet off Millen's stick caused plenty of pain and some damage.

"It felt like a hard slap in the face, my face felt the full impact of the shot," said Watson. "I assume I'm done for the entire summer. I'm sure it will take at least that long to heal."

At Marine Midland Arena on Monday night, Watson's teammates won one for their fallen goaltender and it was a biggie. The Gamblers defeated the first-place Brampton Excelsiors, 9-7, in overtime to end Brampton's 14-game winning streak.

"He's been on our minds the last few days, that's for sure," said Gamblers player/coach Darris Kilgour, who scored both his team's goals during the 10-minute overtime. "But once the game started, we tried to focus and concentrate on what we were doing."

Lacrosse is the least of Watson's worries right now.

Because Watson's eye was swollen shut by the time trainers could reach him on the floor, he wasn't able to see his own hand when he brought it from his eye and nose to check for blood.

"They were able to calm me down by explaining I couldn't see because the eye was completely swollen shut," said Watson. "I had some preliminary testing but nothing could be proven ... because of the amount of swelling."

Watson, who has been out of work from a Guelph, Ont. print shop since the mishap, will find out the full extent of the damage this week. He knows he has a fractured eye socket and a broken nose and he's scheduled to see eye specialists and plastic surgeons.

"I've been putting drops in the eye and as the swelling has gone down I've been able to see a little out of the eye, but it's been very blurry," Watson, 28, said. "But then again, I've been told the drops are supposed to cause the vision to be blurry. I'm staying optimistic."

Watson, who was a second-team National Lacrosse League all-star with the Raiders last winter, has been a goaltender since the age of 4.

"I've never taken a shot like that before," he said. "I've been hit in the head and on the helmet before. But if you worry about things like this, you just can't play the position."

Watson's loss leaves the Gamblers with Ryan Kells as the lone experienced goalie on the roster. Because the injury occured on July 15 - the OLA's player transaction deadline - the team can't sign another veteran goalie, Fannell said. Matt Roik, from the Gamblers' Junior A affiliate, the St. Catharines Athletics, dressed as Kells' backup on Monday.

This is the second devastating injury the Gamblers have been forced to deal with. Jason Luke, the 1997 OLA Major Division rookie of the year and the team's leading scorer last summer, suffered a knee injury early this summer and hasn't played since.

Kells was solid Monday night as the Gamblers (9-4-1) handed Brampton (14-1) its first defeat since Game Seven of last season's OLA Major Division championship series.

Darris Kilgour was one of four Gamblers with two scores; Travis Kilgour and Mike Ladoceur each had two goals and three assists and Curt Malawsky had two goals and an assist as the Gamblers prevailed though many of their top guns were not in uniform because of the participation in the World Lacrosse Championships in Baltimore.

"We played our best game of the season, no doubt," Darris Kilgour said. "Once we took it to overtime we just dominated. I don't think they had more than two good shots in the OT. Everything else was just running out the shot clock."

It was an important win for Buffalo, which moved one point ahead of third-place Brooklin (9-7). The first- and second-place finishers will have home advantage when the best-of-seven OLA semifinals begin in early August. The Gamblers are in action next on Thursday night when they travel to Peterborough.

This article has been amended by the Outsider's Guide from the form it originally took on The Unofficial OLA page.