The Shooting Eagles hold a two-game lead atop the standings while the Black Fish broke through for their first win following week 4 action of the Arena Lacrosse League West Division on Saturday at Langley Events Centre.
The Eagles sit at a perfect 4-0 after defeating the Sea Spray (2-2) 17-7 in one contest, while in the other, the Black Fish won 12-9 over the Grizzlies, leaving both teams with 1-3 records.
Black Fish 12, Grizzlies 9
“Last week we embarrassed ourselves.”
Those were the words of coach Rod Jensen, referring to his Black Fish team allowing 30 goals – and Arena Lacrosse League West Division record – in a week 3 defeat which dropped his team to 0-3.
“All three of our first games, we didn’t play a full 60 minutes,” he said. “We were getting outworked and to get beat by that high of a score is really difficult.
“We have been getting outworked every game, except for this one,” Jensen said, adding that it was important the team showed some pride in their effort.
Back on the floor at Langley Events Centre on Saturday afternoon, the Black Fish scored the first four goals and never trailed, defeating the Grizzlies 12-9. Both teams now sport identical 1-3 records.
Some line-up changes saw the Black Fish dress a much bigger defence while goaltender Keegan Okino was also inserted into the line-up, delivering 46 saves on 55 shots.
“The boys did their job in front of me; kept them out of the middle and it’s just on me to make the save from the outside. They made my life easy,” he said.
Rhys Porteous led the Black Fish with a hat trick and two assists, and his five points were matched by teammates Connor Watson and Ryan Jones, who each scored twice and set up three others. Ethan M’Lot (1-2), Drew Andre (1-1), Aidan Murphy (1-1), Brian Gillis (1-1) and Reese Barnes (1-0) had the others.
The coaching staff’s pre-game message was that the team needed to win the little battles if they wanted to be successful.
“Every ball that was on the ground, it seemed like we were there first,” Okino said.
Kyle Brunsch’s five points (2-3) led the Grizzlies with Thomas Moffat scoring a hat trick and four points. Aidan Baker and James Baker each had a goal and three points with Erik Forsselius adding a goal.
Shooting Eagles 17, Sea Spray 7
Another week and another dominant performance.
After a record-breaking game which saw them score 30, the Shooting Eagles offence was not nearly as prolific, and yet they still managed 17 goals – the second-highest total by any Arena Lacrosse League West Division team through four weeks – in a 17-7 victory over the Sea Spray.
The teams were playing on Saturday afternoon at Langley Events Centre with the Shooting Eagles holding a two-game lead at 4-0 over the second-place Sea Spray (2-2).
Saturday’s contest was close through the first 19 minutes with the Eagles ahead 5-4 before they extended the lead to 7-4 heading into half-time. The second half was a different story as they held the Sea Spray to three goals while tallying 10 of their own for the lopsided 17-7 final score.
“After halftime, we started pushing transition. We were subbing early and doing all that lazy stuff, but we got a foot up the rear end and started pushing in transition and that gave our offence more time to create more chances,” said Lucas Parsons-Quintiao, who was part of a stellar defensive group for the Shooting Eagles.
He also credited the team for their increased communication when on the floor.
While Parsons-Quintiao and the back end locking things down defensively, they were able to pursue loose balls and get more opportunities for their dynamic offence which boasts a varied scoring attack with multiple weapons.
On Saturday it was Dylan McIntosh who made his season debut – he has been with the National Lacrosse League’s Vancouver Warriors during training camp – and scored five times to go along with two assists.
Captain Coady Adamson also made his season debut, finishing with a hat trick and four points while Mark Yingling had four goals and six points. Dylan Lacroix added a pair of goals as part of his five-point game.
Yingling leads the ALL West with 14 goals and 24 points while Lacroix is second in goals (11), assists (12) and points (23).
“The diversity; each week it seems like we are getting someone else who fits in that spot and everything is just clicking,” marveled Parsons-Quintiao.
Parsons-Quintiao, Jake Young and Doug Porter each added a goal.
In net, Colin Jeffrey made 33 saves on 40 shots.
The Sea Spray were missing some regulars, resulting in some of their normal defenders playing out of position on offence.
“It was a tough one, but it’s a long season,” said coach Ian Paterson.
“We had a different line-up than normal, guys that hadn’t played together before. We had some younger kids playing and that is what this league is all about: developing the young guys. There are definitely things to be looking forward to and that is all you can ask.”
James Rahe led the Sea Spray with a hat trick, but Paterson said losing him to a 10-minute misconduct late in the first quarter was a big turning point as it was a one-goal game when he sat down and the Sea Spray were down multiple goals by the team he returned and they could not recover.
While Rahe had the three goals, Trevayne Hunter (1-4) and Joshua Yachney (2-2) also had multi-point games. Eli Batt added a pair of assists with Seamus Bankier tallying the other goal.
Both Sea Spray goaltenders saw action in net with Marc Rippberger making 19 saves on 30 shots while Lee Jackman stopped 21 of 27.
Next: Week 5 sees the Sea Spray face the Black Fish at 1:00pm while the Grizzlies take on the Shooting Eagles at 4:00pm. Both games are on Saturday, December 7 at Langley Events Centre.
