Buffalo Bandits Season Ends After Tough Loss In Georgia

What started out as a pretty rough season turned positive for the Buffalo Bandits as they turned around what many people thought would be a rebuilding year after the team lost several weapons during the offseason, after winning their third straight NLL Cup.

The 2025-26 NLL Season for Buffalo started with the team losing 7 out of the first 10 games of the year, with tough losses coming against Colorado, Halifax, Philadelphia, and Rochester. Many fans thought that the streak of the Bandits being the team to beat in the NLL was coming to an end, but the team mustered some true grit and went on to win 7 straight games, taking the team from the bottom of the standings to being within one game of first place and home field advantage in the NLL Playoffs.

But a tough 4-point loss in Oshawa meant the Bandits would go into the playoffs with the 5th seed, having to travel to Atlanta to face the Georgia Swarm.

Bandits' Playoff Run For 4th Straight Championship Ends In First Round After Loss To Georgia Swarm

While Buffalo and the crazy fans in Banditland led the NLL in attendance this year, that was not the case in Georgia, as only 4,134 fans were in the house at the Gas South Arena in Gwinnett County, Georgia, to watch the Swarm knock off the defending NLL Cup Champion Buffalo Bandits.

While the Bandits got good offensive output from Ian MacKay, Joe Resetarits, Mitch de Snoo, Josh Byrne, and Kyle Buchanan, it wasn't enough to overcome the 17 goals Georgia was able to score.

This game marks the first time the Bandits didn't make it out of the first round of the NLL playoffs since 2018, and it will be the first time the Bandits won't appear in the NLL finals since 2019. Even though the Bandits will not win their fourth straight NLL Championship Cup this year, they remain the dominant team in the league, having appeared in 6 of the last 9 NLL Championship series, along with 14 total appearances in the finals.

The NLL Playoffs continue with Toronto, San Diego, Halifax, and Georgia remaining.