The Shooting Eagles pushed their winning streak to three games – and now own a share of first place – while the Black Fish snapped a two-game losing streak in week 10 Arena Lacrosse League West Division action.
The games were played on Tuesday (January 31) and Wednesday (February 1) at Langley Events Centre.
Shooting Eagles 13 Sea Spray 12 (OT)
Cole Paciejewski’s overtime winner has helped the Shooting Eagles soar to a share of first place.
Paciejewski buried a breakaway in transition at 1:54 of sudden-death overtime for the 13-12 win over the Sea Spray in Arena Lacrosse League West Division action on Tuesday (January 31) at Langley Events Centre.
The victory was a third straight for the Shooting Eagles while the Sea Spray saw their own three-game win streak come to an end. Both teams have identical 6-4 records are 2-2 in their head-to-head series.
The Shooting Eagles were coming off a record-setting game where they had scored 23 goals in their previous contest and early on, it looked like that trend would continue as raced out to a 5-0 lead. The Sea Spray did battle back to cut the lead to 7-5 at the half before falling behind 10-5 late in the third quarter.
The Sea Spray were persistent, however, battling back from a three-goal deficit with under three minutes to play thanks to a trio of goals in a span of 16 seconds to force overtime. But after both teams had their chances, it was Paciejewski burying the winner.
Adam Noakes (1+4) and Coady Adamson (2+3) each had five-point games to lead the Shooting Eagles while Dylan McIntosh (4+0) and Mark Yingling (0+4) had matching four-point games. Paciejewski (1+2), Declan Fitzpatrick (1+2), Garrett Winter (2+0) and Dylan Lacroix and Isaac Richmond (each with one goal) rounded out the scoring. Brody Harris finished with 41 saves on 53 shots.
Keegan Bell led the Sea Spray with five goals while Tyler Kirkby led all scorers with eight points, all of which were assists. Lukas Nielsen (3+0), Vinny Ricci (1+2), Gordie Phillips (1+1), Tommy Robertson (1+0) and Eli Batt (1+0) had the other goals. Lee Jackman stopped 41 of the 54 shots.
Black Fish 13 Grizzlies 8
A 40-save performance from Ryan Atkinson helped the Black Fish snap a two-game losing streak in a 13-8 victory over the Grizzlies.
The Arena Lacrosse League West Division rivals were playing on Wednesday (February 1) night at Langley Events Centre with both teams tied with 4-6 records, with three of the Black Fish victories on the season coming at the expense of the Grizzlies.
The Black Fish trailed just once in the contest, at 3-2, before they took a 6-5 lead into the locker room at halftime, and then put then used a 4-0 third quarter to build a multi-goal lead they held the rest of the way.
Black Fish’s Connor Watson was the game’s first star following his four-goal, five-point performance while Brian Gillis (1+4) also finished with five points. Drew Kask chipped in with a pair of goals and Ethan M’Lot and Ryan Jones each had a goal and two assists. Ryan Jensen and Laszlo Henning both finished with a goal and an assist apiece and Steve McKinlay and Brandon Luitwieler rounded out the scoring with a goal apiece. Atkinson (who finished with 40 saves) was the second star.
On the other side of the floor, Sekawnee Baker (2+2) and Erik Maas (2+1) each had multi-goal games while Brian Smith had a goal and a helper and Mitchell Nolet, Aaron Skye and Carlton Schuss scored a goal apiece. Maas was named the third star.
Kyle Mooney stopped 32 of 41 shots while Brandon Humphrey made nine saves on a dozen shots.
Next week
All four teams are back in action with another pair of midweek games. The Black Fish (4-6) take on the Sea Spray (6-4) on February 7 while it will be the Shooting Eagles (6-4) up against the Grizzlies (4-6) on February 8. Both games get going at 7:00pm at Langley Events Centre.
About the Arena Lacrosse League: Formed in 2017, the ALL is regarded as the National Lacrosse League’s minor league, and with seven Ontario-based teams in the ALL prior to the launch of the ALL West, 15 per cent of the current NLL players have played at least one game in the ALL.
The ALL plays under the same game rules as the NLL, providing high-level competition and exposure that provides NLL management and executives the opportunity to monitor individual progress through game webcasting and statistics. Game evaluations from ALL West coaches will assist in development of players who are currently on NLL practice rosters or are ready for in-season call-ups.
To learn about the league, visit www.arenalacrosseleague.ca.
Photos courtesy of Langley Events Centre
