Mississauga's John Tavares and teammate Mark Steenhuis have propelled the Buffalo Bandits into the National Lacrosse League championship.
Tavares, 39, a teacher at Philip Pocock Secondary School, scored twice and added 10 assists as the Bandits beat the New York Titans 19-12 Saturday night in the NLL Eastern Conference final at HSBC Arena in Buffalo. It was the team's fifth win in a row at home.
It was also the second time in Tavares' career that he has scored more than 10 points in a playoff game.
Steenhuis, meanwhile, set a franchise record by scoring seven goals in the game, breaking the previous playoff single-game high of six, set by Tavares in 1992 against the Boston Blazers.
The Bandits will take on Portland Lumberjax Saturday night at HSBC Arena in the championship game. The Bandits beat Portland 14-10 on April 26 in Buffalo's final game of the regular season.
onlinenews@mississauga.net