A fourth-quarter rally helped the Sea Spray to a 16-15 win over the Grizzlies while the Black Fish pitched a second-half shutout in their 17-8 victory against the Shooting Eagles in Week 10 action of the Arena Lacrosse League West Division.
Both games were played on Sunday (Jan. 28) at Langley Events Centre.
Sea Spray 16 Grizzlies 15
Trailing for the bulk of the game, the Sea Spray scored three of the final four goals for the come-from-behind victory.
The Sea Spray did not take their first lead of the game until pulling ahead with 6:45 to play as they hung on to beat a short-handed Grizzlies squad 16-15 in Arena Lacrosse League West Division action at Langley Events Centre on Sunday afternoon.
Back-to-back victories improved the Sea Spray to 6-4 while the Grizzlies dropped a seventh straight, seeing their record fall to 2-8. Their last four losses have come by a combined five goals.
After the teams were tied 3-3 through 15 minutes, the Grizzlies built a 9-5 lead heading into the half. The teams each scored twice in the third and the Grizzlies went up 12-7 early in the fourth before the Sea Spray scored nine times in the final 12:27.
“We stayed off the refs, we weren’t complaining on the bench, and we had a little more focus. And they (Grizzlies) were tired. I think they got gassed and we kept rolling. All the credit to them, battling like that with a short lineup with their injuries,” said Sea Spray coach Ian Paterson.
Tyler Kirkby – the game’s first star following a 12-assist game – set up seven of his team’s nine goals in that span.
For the season, Kirkby leads the league with 79 points and his 65 assists on their own would still rank him second in the scoring race.
“I credit my teammates; they are constantly getting open. We are always talking on the bench and I can see where they are going and then we are just putting it in the back of the net,” he said.
“That is just seeing the game and getting the ball to the right people. You can’t teach seeing the game and he just sees it so well,” Paterson added.
“We are lucky that we have a bunch of offensive guys that are veterans. They are calling their plays because they see what is happening. They have a better vision of what the other team is doing against them to do what they need to do.”
One of those veterans was James Rahe, who was making his season debut. Kirkby said the team’s slow start on Sunday could be partially by the fact they needed to get refamiliarized with Rahe and his playing style.
“We were feeling him out. Once the half came, we talked as a team and we just came out firing. Rahe was all over the floor and we just got him the ball and he put it in the net like he always does. My teammates were getting open and I was just finding them,” Kirkby said.
Rahe finished the game with five goals and Vinny Ricci (3-4), Kordell Primus (3-2) and Adam Dickson (3-1) each had hat tricks. Aidan Ellis and Eli Batt scored a goal each and Tyler Ewen and Jordan Gabriele had four and two assists, respectively. Nate Faccin finished with 34 saves on 49 shots.
Kirkby and Ricci were the first and third stars, respectively, while the Grizzlies’ Kyle Brunsch was the second star after a five-goal and eight-point performance.
Sekawnee Baker (4-2), Brian Smith (1-3), Pearson Willis (2-1), Toru Morimatsu (1-2), Jack Dulong (1-1) and Ethan Quinn (1-0) had the other goals while Garrett Lewis finished with three assists.
Kyle Mooney stopped 50 of 65 shots and also had two assists with Brayden Wandler making one save on two shots.
Black Fish 17 Shooting Eagles 8
A second-half shutout paved the way as the Black Fish grounded the first-place Shooting Eagles.
Tied 8-8 with 30 minutes to play, the Black Fish scored the only goals of the second half, striking nine times for a 17-8 win on Sunday at Langley Events Centre to wrap up Week 10 action for the Arena Lacrosse League West Division.
The Black Fish evened their record at 5-5 while the Shooting Eagles sit at 7-3. Two of those losses have come at the hands of the Black Fish.
Brandon Humphrey made 28 of his 51 saves in the third and fourth quarters as the Black Fish goaltender was the second star, finishing with an .864 save percentage.
“Zero, that is not to be expected, but when your goalie is playing well like that, it is pretty easy to hold a team to a score like that,” said Black Fish coach Ian Poole.
The teams were tied 3-3 at the first-quarter break before the Shooting Eagles went ahead 8-6. But the Black Fish scored twice before the period let out while their opponent was held scoreless over the final 32:22.
“Putting four quarters together, we have kind of struggled to do that, so at half when it was tied, we told them we just carry it forward and good things will happen,” Poole said.
“We needed a bounce-back; if we play a complete 60, we know we can beat any team in this league,” said Black Fish captain Connor Watson.
“It starts with the back end and the goalie. Humphrey really held it down and our defence played how we wanted to play: taking away the shooting lanes and getting out on their hands. They have some good shooters and we let them have their shots in the first half. Second half they really tightened up. It starts back there and then it’s contagious on the front end.”
Watson was the first star after scoring four goals and finishing with nine points and he leads the ALL West with 23 goals. Laszlo Henning also scored four times and had five points and Josh Mills had a hat trick. The rest of the offence came courtesy of Chase McIntyre (1-2), Temeke7 Gottfriedsen (1-1), Jordan Roberts (1-1), Reese Barnes (1-1), Logan Melish (1-1) and Xander Cabeca (1-0). Ethan M’Lot had eight assists.
For the Shooting Eagles, Dylan Lacroix – the third star – led the way with four goals and one assist and Lacroix and Henning sit tied for second in goals with 21. But Lacroix was the lone Eagle to record a multi-goal game. Declan Fitzpatrick (1-2), Spencer Bromley (1-1), Garret Winter (1-0) and Brandon Fitzgerald (1-0) provided the rest of the offence.
Colin Jeffrey made 22 saves on 36 shots while Brody Harris stopped seven of 10.
Up next: All four teams are right back at it with Week 11 featuring a pair of midweek games. On Tuesday (Jan. 30), it will be the Black Fish (5-5) and the Grizzlies (2-8) while the following day (Jan. 31) sees the Shooting Eagles (7-3) and the Sea Spray (6-4). Both are at Langley Events Centre and begin at 7:00pm.
Photos courtesy of Gary Ahuja
