and at least forced Chivas to work laterally. But against a team without i

TORONTO -- Ryan Benesch scored seven goals to lead the Buffalo Bandits to a 15-13 win over the Toronto Rock in the National Lacrosse League East semifinal Saturday night. The Bandits, who were the only team in the nine-team league to miss the playoffs last season, will meet the Rochester Knighthawks in a two-game East final. Buffalos other goal scorers were John Tavares, with two, Mark Steenhuis, Andrew Watt, Shawn Williams, Jamie Rooney, Dhane Smith and Chad Culp. Buffalo outshot Toronto 57-54. Kasey Beirnes scored four goals for the Rock, Colin Doyle and Nick Diachenko scored three each, Josh Sanderson got two, and Rob Hellyer chipped in with one. Stephan Leblanc, Torontos leading goal scorer with 45 during the regular season, was unable to put a ball behind Bandits goalie Anthony Cosmo. Buffalo led 4-2 after one quarter and 8-7 after two. Benesch, whose 25-goal regular season was his least productive in five years, put four balls behind Rock goalie Brandon Miller in the first half. Beirnes tied it 8-8 early in the third quarter. Then, Buffalo was assessed a slashing penalty to Billy Dee Smith at the same time it was nabbed for too many men and Sanderson gave Toronto its first lead, 9-8, during the two-man advantage. Benesch scored his fifth and sixth around a goal by Diachenko to send the teams to the fourth quarter tied 10-10. Tavares, the Bandits 45-year-old captain, restored Buffalos lead and Smith made it 12-10 when he pulled a ball out of Torontos crease to beat Miller. Diachenko replied for the Rock. But Benesch fired an overhand bullet into the top corner of the net on a power play for a 13-11 Buffalo lead with Damon Edwards in the penalty box for a high hit on Rory Smith. Diachenko, who scored two goals in three regular-season games with the Rock, got his third of the night and Culp offset it. Beirnes scored his fourth of the game but Tavares kept Buffalo ahead by two with a power-play goal. With one minute remaining it was desperation time for the Rock. Miller was lifted for an extra attacker to no avail. The Bandits entered the post-season on an eight-game losing streak while Toronto had won its last four regular-season games. Buffalo open the East final at home next weekend. Game 2 will be in Rochester on May 17. Should the teams split, a 10-minute mini-game and sudden-death overtime, if needed, will immediately follow the second game. Austin Rivers Jersey .com) - Patrik Elias registered the winner in the shootout as New Jersey nipped Toronto 2-1 at Prudential Center on Wednesday. Carmelo Anthony Jersey . Perhaps their first trip to the city of Winnipeg in 16 years can serve as the shakeup they need. https://www.rocketsrookiesshop.com/ . Poti played in 824 regular NHL games with four teams in his career; the Edmonton Oilers, New York Rangers, New York Islanders and the Washington Capitals. Vincent Edwards Jersey . Toronto dropped a 7-2 decision to the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday afternoon, with only a pair of late runs preventing a second straight shutout loss. Josh Willingham belted a two-run homer in the first inning and Kendrys Morales hit a bases-clearing double in the seventh as the Twins took the rubber game of the three-game series. Clint Capela Jersey . Neither striker Demba Ba nor Fernando Torres came close to scoring as Chelsea was left unsuccessfully appealing for penalties in this drab penultimate game of the season. "Our strikers are good strikers, no doubt about that, but players with some specific qualities," Mourinho said.The Whitecaps might have mercifully played their last-ever game against Chivas USA on Saturday. With the lame-duck and weakest link MLS franchise on the block, hopes are high that an ambitious, deep-pocketed owner can come in, rebrand the club and then eventually move it to downtown Los Angeles. While the match-up has produced three four-goal games at BC Place, the games at Stub Hub Center have generally fallen under the file labelled "drudgery." Saturday night was a perfect example. Neither team wanted to lose and both were desperate to win...just not desperate enough. There were moments, particularly in the second half after the Goats introduced Mauro Rosales and Leandro Barrera on the wings, when the game threatened to open up, but it never really did. Clear-cut chances were non-existent. If the Whitecaps do miss the playoffs this season, they wont have to look any further than the three games against Chivas where they collected a paltry two points. For many supporters a six-game unbeaten streak with three-straight clean sheets and a league-lowest four losses from 23 games would be viewed as an achievement by a young side, but thats not how Whitecaps fans viewed their teams fourth 0-0 draw of the season, which was only slightly less disappointing than the scoreless effort at home with Montreal following the World Cup break. The was plenty of social media backlash over squad selection, which I think is a bit unfair. Gershon Koffie was ruled out as early as last Thursday, while playing Pedro Morales would have been a risk given his tight hamstring. Darren Mattocks deserved the chance to extend his goal-scoring exploits, but he, along with Omar Salgado, never showed the guile and conviction when they got in the front third.ddddddddddddnbsp; Sebastian Fernandez and substitutes Erik Hurtado and Kekuta Manneh seemed to struggle with the same issue. Once the ball was at their feet, they always looked of two minds. Hurtado was also caught offside once too often for anyones liking. One obvious bright spot was Russell Tieberts performance. He huffed and he puffed but he also sprayed the ball around and at least forced Chivas to work laterally. But against a team without its two starting centre-backs and a cloud of uncertainty hanging over it...and no support whatsoever, it was another draw that felt more like a loss for Vancouver. Players and coaches shrug off the notion that the Whitecaps are incapable of winning at the Stub Hub Center in Carson, but through 12 games in Southern California, the Whitecaps have amassed a meagre seven points out of 36, all of which have come came against Chivas. Vancouver has never taken even a point off of the Galaxy, their next opponents, in six tries there. What Vancouver wasted by not finding that one critical goal was a chance to close some ground on the teams above them, while distancing themselves from the those in the rear-view mirror. The out-of-town scoreboard was relatively kind over the weekend with Seattle, Colorado and the Galaxy all losing, while Portland managed a only single point at New England. If Chivas USA was in fact the Whitecaps nemesis team, then at least they can take comfort in not having to play them again under that moniker, but Vancouver did little to dispel the belief that they rise to bigger occasions and fall to the lesser ones. Well see if that theme comes to pass this Saturday against the Landon Donovan, Robbie Keane and company. ' ' '