November 18, 2008 - Roseville, Minnesota - The defending North American Cup Champion Minnesota Blades were soundly beaten by Minneapolis Bandolier 7-1 on November 11th in the opening round of the NAC Tournament. One week later, they would have their shot at redemption, when the 2-1 Blades met the 3-0 Bandolier Monday night in the Championship game of the 2008 North American Cup.
 
While the Blades were intent on defending their 2007 NAC title, it was Bandolier who got on the board first 15 minutes into the game, when Jon Keseley found the back of the net on a low hard drive off a corner pass from Rick Haney. Two minutes later, it looked as though they would add to their lead, when a Bandolier player raced past the Blades defense to gather in a loose ball, and headed for the net, Blades defenders in tow. But in an aggressive move, Goalie Ben Levy charged out of the net and was able to block an attempt to get the ball past him by sprawling on the ice and sliding into the path of the Bandolier attacker, knocking the ball away, and sending the player flying. That kept the game at 1-0, which is how the half ended.

Four minutes into the second half, Keseley netted his second goal of the game as he cut across the front of the net, and tucked a shot behind Levy. At the 17 minute mark of the second half, the Blades finally got on the board when Andy Fronek snuck a shot past Bandolier goalkeeper Tommy Stone on a corner stroke. That goal seemed to energize the Blades who continued to press and finally got the break they were looking for when, a minute after they had scored their first goal, a seemingly harmless chip in toward the goal squirted away from Stone to a waiting Alex Rabine, who flipped it in the net for a 2-2 tie. For Rabine, it was the first goal of his Rookie campaign with the Blades. Momentum continued on the side of the Blades and Rabine when less than a minute after he scored his first goal, he added a second. On the play, Stone made the initial save, but it left him lying on the ice out of position, and the ball sitting in front of a wide open net for an opportunistic Rabine, who popped it in for a 3-2 lead. That would be all the scoring for the Blades though, as Stone lived up to his nickname, stonewalling the Blades the rest of the way.

With 15 minutes left in the game, and his team down by a goal, Stone had to make three acrobatic saves before the Blades finally pushed their fourth attempt wide of the goal. That seemed to inspire Bandolier, who methodically pushed the ball up ice after the throw in, which eventually lead to a crossing shot by Mike Hosfield, which rang off the post and kicked back out. Bandolier regrouped, and following a scramble for the ball off of a free stroke, Hosfield got another chance, and this time drilled a shot into the net to tie the game at 3 apiece with 11 minutes to go in the contest. Both teams had quality chances down the stretch, and it looked as though the game might be headed for overtime. But in the 54th minute, a seemingly harmless play turned into heartbreak for the Blades.  Keseley took the ball and pushed it down along the end line. While attempting to pass the ball across the front of the goal to a teammate, he hit Levy in the leg pad, and then watched the ball trickle over the goal line for his third tally of the game, and what turned out to be the game winner, 4-3. 

For Minneapolis Bandolier, it meant a sweep of both the Indoor and Outdoor Championships of the North American Cup of Bandy in 2008.

RB Powell