Anthony Cosmo is giving serious thought to hanging up his goalie stick, which is understandable given he’s 39 and his body is telling him it has had enough of the punishment inherent in standing in NLL creases.

He’s doing his best to help the Buffalo Bandits into a playoff berth that seemed farfetched scant weeks ago. They have two games left on their schedule, both at home, and if they win both they might just squeak into post-season play. It would mean the world to one of the sport’s true warriors.

Cosmo has played more minutes (11,100) and made more saves (7,158) than any other goalie in the history of pro indoor lacrosse.

He was at his best in allowing only two goals in the last 40 minutes as the Bandits rallied from a 6-1 deficit to shock the Rock 13-8 in Toronto last Friday night. It might have been his last game in Air Canada Centre, which is the NLL arena closest to his Orangeville home 50 miles to the northwest.

“How many more years are you going to play in this league?,” Cosmo was asked.

“I think this might be my last,” he replied. “My body’s hurtin’, breaking down. (The decision) on retirement) is up in the air. I just want to finish this year and finish on a high note."

After beating the Rock, the Bandits had a 6 a.m. flight to Atlanta for a game against the Swarm on Saturday night. Davide DiRuscio started in goal for the Bandits and, when Georgia opened the fourth quarter with three straight goals to jump ahead 15-13, Cosmo was sent into the game. It ended 17-16 in favor of the Swarm.

The Bandits have two games left, at home against Georgia this weekend and Toronto on the last weekend of April, and they can take a playoff berth away from Toronto if they beat the Swarm, the Rock lose at Saskatchewan, and they beat the Rock in Buffalo in the sked finale.

“If we sneak into the playoffs, we might catch some people by surprise,” says Cosmo. “We’ll continue to scratch and claw to get out of this hole and, hopefully, that pays dividends in the playoffs.”

Regardless, if 2017 is Cosmo’s swan song, the six-foot-two vet will be content when he leaves the league with what he has accomplished since his 2001 rookie season with Toronto. He helped win two league titles backing up Bob Watson in four years with the Rock. He spent the next four years with the San Jose Stealth, winning the award for goalie of the year in 2007, put in the next three with a team in Boston, and joined the Bandits in 2012.“I’ve been blessed to play on some good teams and with some great people,” he said. “Lacrosse has given me incredible opportunities. To walk away from it is going to be tough if I decide to do that. But next year is something I’ll worry about later. I just want to go out on a high trying to win a championship.”

NLL Notes

BANDITS MISSED MALCOLM

Injuries dimmed Buffalo’s chances earlier this year. Starting their schedule without 2016 scoring champion and MVP Dhane Smith, going without Nick Weiss and Anthony Malcolm for long stretches, and seeing Ryan Benesch go down in midseason ganged up to leave the team with a losing record.

Malcolm, 24, from New Westminster, B.C., via North Carolina’s Mars Hill University, showed by scoring five goals in two weekend games what he can contribute when he’s healthy. The second-year pro was the 11^th player selected in the 2015 entry draft.

“Tony is an awfully good player,” says head coach Troy Cordingley. “He’s fast, he’s athletic _ he can do that stuff. We need him to do it more often.

“He’s had a tough year. He was hurt earlier on and was out six to eight weeks with a chest injury. He was finding his groove (with three goals in Toronto). Games before that, his timing wasn’t there. On Friday, it clicked for him.”

KILGOUR RECUPERATING

Bandits defense coach Rich Kilgour was unable to take his usual spot on the bench for games in Toronto and Georgia during the weekend after dislocating a shoulder and breaking a foot in a fall off a ladder while cleaning leaves out of roof gutters at his home last Wednesday.

BLACK WOLVES STUN RUSH

A sensational 13-12 overtime road win over the reigning champions has lifted the New England Black Wolves into second place in the NLL East.

“It’s obviously a massive win,” head coach Glenn Clark said after his team’s most impressive performance of the year.

The Saskatchewan Rush had a 14-game home winning streak going including 2016 dates and 2017’s 7-0 mark and when they jumped ahead 4-0 it appeared as if the streak would stretch to 15. But the Black Wolves would not let it happen.

The NLL West leaders were up 6-4 at halftime and 10-8 after three quarters. Curtis Knight made it 11-8, each team scored again, and it was 12-9 with two minutes remaining. An extraordinary avalanche of events ensued.

Chad Culp scored with 1:24 left to ignite a last-gasp New England rally. With goalie Evan Kirk lifted for an extra attacker, Kevin Buchanan dove from behind the net to swing his stick and put a ball in with 29 seconds left. The Black Wolves won the faceoff and called time out with 22 seconds left to hatch a plan. With Kirk on the bench again, Culp, stationed to the left of goalie Aaron Bold, gathered in a Kevin Crowley pass and bounced in a shot to tie it with eight seconds remaining.

In overtime, Kirk stopped a Ryan Dilks breakaway shot before Shawn Evans, who was to Bold’s right during a power play, whipped in an underhand shot at 3:17 and raised his arms in triumph as 14,532 witnesses stood in stunned silence.

“I don’t know if we let up but we threw it away,” said Knight. “It was a good lesson to learn now rather than in the playoffs.”

New England and Toronto are both 8-8. The Black Wolves won the season series 2-0 so now sit second ahead of the Rock. Each team has two regular-season games remaining. If it can retain second, New England will be on its home floor for the one-game division semifinal the first weekend in May.

ROCK CRUMBLE

One of the most jaw-dropping collapses in franchise history could cost Toronto a playoff berth.

The Rock were second in the NLL East when last-place Buffalo showed up at Air Canada Centre last Friday. They were up 6-1 in the second quarter but then went 29 minutes without scoring a goal as the Bandits poured in nine in a row on their way to a 13-8 victory.

“Overall, we just weren’t very good from start to finish,” said head coach Matt Sawyer.

The Rock collapse came in front of their largest crowd of the season as more than 11,000 showed up for Fan Appreciation Night. More than a few fans did not appreciate that Brandon Miller was left idle on the end of the bench as shot after Buffalo shot eluded Nick Rose.

Buffalo could now pass the Rock and leave them regretting blowing a playoff spot in what was their last home game of the season. This weekend, Toronto is at Saskatchewan and Buffalo, 6-10, is at home against Georgia. If Toronto loses and Buffalo wins, the third and final NLL East playoff berth would be up for grabs when Toronto is at Buffalo on the schedule’s closing weekend.

FIRST DIVISION TITLE

Georgia clinched first place in the NLL East for the first time in franchise history when Buffalo won 13-8 in Toronto last Friday and the Swarm improved to a league-best 11-4 by defeating visiting Buffalo 17-16 Saturday. They have earned a bye to the division finals, which means a home game May 20. In the event of a split of the two games, a 10-minute mini-game would be played immediately and would decide a finalist for the best-of-three Champion’s Cup series.

The Saturday win was impressive, to say the least. Buffalo led 8-3 in the second quarter but was only up 13-12 when the fourth began. The Swarm jumped ahead 15-13 and did not trail again. Mike Poulin made saves on shots by Dhane Smith and Anthony Malcolm in the last three seconds to ensure victory.

“Ugly wins still count,” said smiling Swarm coach Ed Comeau.

“You never know what’s going to happen in playoffs,” said Poulin. “So, if we find ourselves in a dogfight like that in playoffs, we know that we can come back and do alright”

Georgia is now most likely to finish first overall.

BIG WIN FOR MAMMOTH

Colorado’s 13-7 home win over Rochester on Saturday, coupled with Saskatchewan’s loss, means the Mammoth, 9-7, could still overtake the first-place Rush, 10-5. The win in front of a Pepsi Center crowd of 16,003 erased the downer of losing the previous game in Georgia.

“We needed to come out here and play hard and get back on track,” goaltender Dillon Ward, who allowed only one goal in the first half as his team cruised to a 9-1 lead, said afterwards. “From top to bottom, it was a great game. It really showed the character in this room.”

Brad Self, acquired in March, scored a goal in playing his first home game for the Mammoth since he was with the team 12 years ago.

“It was awesome,” said Self. “This crowd is unbelievable. It was certainly nice to get a win. The crowd’s that much louder when we’re winning.”

STEALTH SOAR

Vancouver, 7-9, got the upper hand on Calgary, 7-10, in the struggle between the two for the third and final playoff berth in the NLL West. Logan Schuss led the way with five goals.

“Corey (Small) was being double-teamed all game so he just fed me the ball,” Schuss said.

“It was a great win for the team, for this franchise, and for the fans,” said head coach Jamie Batley.

One more win and the Stealth clinch a playoff berth for the first time since moving to Langley, B.C., from Everett, Wash., four years ago.

ROUGHNECKS ON LIFE SUPPORT

Calgary has a schedule bye this weekend and winds things up with a game at Saskatchewan. It must win and have Vancouver lose its two remaining games to go back ahead of Vancouver.

TIME TRAVEL

April 14, 1999: Gary Gait is named most valuable player for the fifth straight season.

April 23, 1999: The Toronto Rock defeat the Rochester Knighthawks 13-10 to win their first league title in front of a capacity Maple Leaf Gardens crowd of 15,691. Colin Doyle scored four goals and assisted on two to get the nod as championship game MVP.

WEEK 17

SATURDAY

NEW ENGLAND (8-8) at ROCHESTER (5-10) 7:30 p.m.

The Black Wolves are looking for one more win to sew up second place, while the Knighthawks will miss the playoffs for the second year in a row.

“It’s nothing but head and heart that is going to give us an opportunity to win,” says head coach Mike Hasen.

New England has the upper hand in the season series. After losing 15-8 in Rochester on Jan.7, the Black Wolves won two at home against the Knighthawks _ 10-9 on Chad Culp’s OT goal Feb. 3 and 12-11 on March 17.

New England, coming off a sensational 13-12 OT win in Saskatoon, is 3-5 on the road. Rochester, showing some second-half spunk in its loss in Denver, is 3-4 at home.

GEORGIA (11-4) at BUFFALO (6-10) 7:30 p.m.

Georgia wants to remain first overall, while Buffalo needs to win this one to keep its chances of making the playoffs alive.

Georgia’s offense is averaging a league-best 15 goals a game. Buffalo’s defense has a league-worst 13.25 against but has been decent of late.

The Swarm lead the season series 2-0. It won 18-14 at Buffalo on Jan. 14 and 17-16 at home last Saturday.

Georgia is 4-3 on the road. Buffalo is 3-4 at home.

TORONTO  (8-8) at SASKATCHEWAN  (10-5) 9:30 p.m.

After blowing a 6-1 lead and losing 13-8 to Buffalo, chances of Toronto making the playoffs hang by a thread. Saskatchewan will try to wipe the bad taste of a 13-12 home loss to New England out of its collective mouth and needs another win to nail down first place in the NLL West.

Toronto’s 10.63 goals-against average is best in the league but the Rock will be challenged to hold the Rush to that given they are No. 2 in the league on offense with an average of 13.27 goals a game.

The Rock beat the Rush 13-11 in Toronto back on Jan. 14. This one closes out the home-and-home set. When Toronto played in Saskatoon last season, the Rush won 13-8.

Toronto is 4-3 on the road. Saskatchewan is 7-1 at home.

COLORADO (9-7) at VANCOUVER (7-9) 10 p.m.

Colorado is peaking at the right time. It’s 11.00 goals-against average is second-best in the league.

Vancouver will be keen to show it can beat Colorado if they meet in the first round of playoffs.

The visiting team won the first three games between these teams. Vancouver leads the season series 2-1. The Stealth won 15-9 in Denver on Jan.7, the Mammath won 10-9 in Langley on a Brent Adams OT goal on Feb. 12, and the Stealth won 10-6 in Denver on March 12.

Colorado is 4-4 on the road. Vancouver is 3-5 at home.

BYE: CALGARY (7-10)