Silver Creek High School graduate Zed Williams and the Colorado Mammoth take on the Buffalo Bandits at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo in Game 1 of the NLL Finals. File photo

BUFFALO — Deja vu.

For the second year in a row, the Buffalo Bandits and the Colorado Mammoth battle for the biggest prize in box lacrosse, the National Lacrosse League Championship.

Opening faceoff is 7 tonight at 7 p.m. at the KeyBank Center with the game being televised on ESPNU. Once again, right in the middle of the action is Silver Creek High School alum Zed Williams for the defending champion Mammoth.

Every year, Williams continues to add to his already impressive lacrosse resume. Having won every professional league he has played in, Williams seeks his second championship in the NLL after playing a huge role in last year’s finals.

Williams finished fourth in playoff scoring last year with 20 goals and 17 assists for 37 points in seven postseason games. He finished tied with teammate Eli McLaughlin for first in goals and scored the crucial game-winning goal in Game 3 to secure the championship.

Colorado’s road back to the championship is being spearheaded by both Williams and McLaughlin, Ryan Lee and goalie Dillon Ward. The duo of Williams and McLaughlin is tied for third in playoff goals with eight, just behind Buffalo’s Josh Byrne and Chris Cloutier with 11 each in only three games. Setting up the Mammoth goal scorers has been Lee with 16 assists and a team-high 21 points in four games.

In net for the Mammoth, the reigning NLL Finals MVP Ward has a league-leading 158 saves in the playoffs.

The Mammoth made the playoffs as the final wild-card team in the Western Conference with a 9-9 record just ahead of the Saskatchewan Rush at 8-10. Colorado knocked off the top-seed in the Western Conference, beating San Diego 13-12 in the semifinals. Then in the West Finals, Colorado went three games with the 2-seeded Calgary Roughnecks, winning the crucial Game 3 by a score of 9-7.

On the other hand, Buffalo finished the best team in the NLL with a 14-4 record in the regular season, and that success has continued into the postseason. The Bandits have limited their opponents to single-digit goals in all three postseason games, first beating Rochester 20-8, then defeating Toronto 14-5 and 17-8 to advance to the finals.

In just three playoff games, Buffalo’s Dhane Smith and Byrne have amassed a whopping 26 points with Smith scoring six goals and collecting 20 assists and Byrne adding 15 helpers to his 11 goals. In net, Buffalo goalie Matt Vinc has a playoff-high 87.0 save percentage among starters and a leading 7.07 goals-against average.

However, ahead of Game 1, Buffalo’s Josh Byrne, Chase Fraser, Ethan O’Connor and Adam Bomberry are listed as questionable.

The last time Buffalo defeated Colorado was Game 1 of last year’s finals and since then the Bandits have lost three games straight. In this year’s regular season meeting, Williams showed why he likes playing close to home as he scored a team-high 5 points in the 13-8 victory for the Mammoth.

Tonight, Williams and the Mammoth will look to continue their streak of success against Buffalo, while the top-seeded Bandits will attempt to replicate last year’s Game 1 success in their quest for their first championship since 2008.

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The game can be watched on ESPNU at 7 p.m. and you can follow along for updates on Twitter, @Chris__Storms.