Sherwood Park, AB (April 23, 2025)- The Bandits closed out the Interior conference semifinals with a 6-4 victory over the crusaders to sweep the series 4-0 on Saturday night at the Randy Rosen Arena in Sherwood Park.
The Bandits overcame a 2-0 deficit to ultimately win in the end after a strong 2nd period performance by Luke Bibby and Ethan Beyer.
In the opening frame, the Crusaders would open up the scoring as Marko Stojkov scored his first of the playoffs to make it a 1-0 Sherwood Park lead. Just two minutes later Kale Dach would double the crusaders lead as they took a 2-0 advantage into the intermission despite being outshot 14-10 by the Bandits.
In the 2nd period, Cooper Pierson walked in on a 2 on 1 and picked the top corner over Venne to get the Bandits on the board. Just under one minute later, Ethan Beyer was set up at the point by Luke Bibby and he fired home his first goal of the postseason to make it a 2-2 game. Just 37 seconds later, Beyer would return the favour and set up Luke Bibby for his 6th goal of the playoffs as the Bandits took their first lead of the game. Just six minutes into the period, Dante Siciliano would score his 3rd of the playoffs and doubled up the Bandits lead to 4-2. Kale Dach quickly answered back just under 30 seconds later to make it 4-3 Bandits. Just over two minutes later, Ethan Beyer scored his 2nd of the period to make it a 5-3 Bandits lead. After the media timeout, Jeremy Loranger would respond with another goal for the Crusaders as he scored his 8th of the playoffs. With under 12 seconds to go in the period, Davide Patella brought the puck into the zone and shot far side from the left circle as it found its way into the back of the net to send the Bandits into the 3rd period up 6-4.
In the final period, Davide Patella would drop the gloves with MacGillivray after he hit Kale Dach. The Bandits would hold on to a 6-4 lead as they defeated the Crusaders in four games to end the series.
The Bandits are Back in action Friday, May 2nd. The opponent is still to be determined.
