The Shooting Eagles are flying high heading into the post-season.
At the midway point of the Arena Lacrosse League (ALL) west division season, the team sat at 3-4. Three of those four defeats were by a single goal and Adam Smith said the coaching staff liked what they were seeing from their squad.
“We knocked the dust off, stuck with our systems. The guys stayed level-headed through the games where we faced challenges. They worked hard and earned this,” Smith explained.
What the team earned was first place in the west division following a seventh-straight victory to close out the regular season on Wednesday night at Langley Events Centre.
The Shooting Eagles were facing the Sea Spray with first place heading into this weekend’s playoffs on the line. The teams had split their previous four meetings, but the fifth meeting saw the Eagles race out to an 11-2 halftime lead on route to the 16-10 victory.
The score was tied at one just past the midway point of the first quarter before the Shooting Eagles offence took flight, scoring 10 of the next 11 goals for an 11-2 lead at the half.
The Sea Spray would cut into the deficit with three consecutive power-play goals to open the third quarter and won the second half 8-5, but the hill was too much to climb.
The Shooting Eagles were led by four goals and six points from captain Coady Adamson, while Adam Noakes scored twice and set up six others for an eight-point game and first star honours.
Spencer Bromley (2+2), Mark Yingling (2+2), Dylan Lacroix (2+1) and Garrett Winter (2+1) each scored twice with Dylan McIntosh (1+3) and Justin Digby (1+0) rounding out the scoring.
Goaltender Brody Harris finished with 29 saves on 39 shots and was the game’s second star.
In addition to being the hottest team in the division, the Shooting Eagles enter the post-season with the highest-ranked offence and the only squad with a positive goals for/goals against differential at +28.
“We have a strong offence: they can all shoot, they can all get inside, they all have their strengths, and it makes it really difficult to even decide who is going to come out for healthy scratches,” Smith said.
The Shooting Eagles were the only team in the west with two players in the top five for goals, assists, and points on the season, with Yingling leading all players with 70 points.
Tyler Kirkby (2+4), Tyler Ewen (1+4), Adam Dickson (2+2) and Marcus Klarich (2+0) led the Sea Spray offence with Cole Ishakawa, Gordie Phillips and Darrel Hunter scoring once apiece.
Dickson was the game’s third star. Goaltender Lee Jackman finished with 45 saves as his team was outshot 61-39. Jackman also led the west division with 412 saves on the season.
First place will be on the line as @SeaSpray_ALL and @Eagles_ALLWest wrap up the #ALLWest regular season tonight. Game is available to stream at https://t.co/t05SZ8qief pic.twitter.com/RbTmt9HpOE
— Arena Lacrosse League (@ArenaLacrosse) March 22, 2023
ALL west semifinal round on Sunday
All four Langley-based teams now prepare for the semifinal round with the Sea Spray (8-6) facing the Black Fish (6-8) at 1 p.m. while the Shooting Eagles (10-4) draw the Grizzlies (4-10) at 4 p.m. Both games are set for Sunday, March 26 at Langley Events Centre – with the two winners facing off in the ALL west finals on April 1 and 2 in a best-of-three series.
A 44-save performance from goaltender Brandon Humphrey has the Black Fish heading to the post-season on a winning note.
Humphrey – the game’s first star – helped his team overcame an early 6-3 deficit as they rallied to defeat the Grizzlies 14-12 in the ALL west division regular season finale for both clubs on Tuesday night at LEC.
While both teams were locked into their playoff position prior to the game, they were each riding losing streaks with the Black Fish (6-8) having lost two straight and the Grizzlies (4-10) mired in a lengthy losing skid which has now seen them drop eight straight following a 4-2 start to the season.
The win was a fourth in five tries for the Black Fish in the season series over the Grizzlies.
“Humphrey is a solid goalie. He makes a lot of saves and makes our team a better. That’s what it takes to win big games, having a strong goalie,” said Black Fish coach Rod Jensen, on the goaltender his team acquired from the Grizzlies back in early February.
Humphrey – the reigning ALL west goalie of the year – has gone 2-1 in his three starts since joining the team with an 11.46 goals against average and .796 save percentage.
And with the goaltender shutting the door at one end, the Black Fish used an efficient transition game on Tuesday to overcome the fact they were playing with a deleted line-up which was missing three right-handed offensive players and then lost a key defender early in the game.
“Gutsy effort only having 14 runners – 13 after we lost Kellner – it can only be a positive heading into do-or-die playoffs,” Jensen said.
Knowing they did not have their full complement of offensive players, the coach said the plan was to push the ball when the opportunity presented itself and they capitalized on their opportunities.
“We shot the ball and were able to hit the spots and it paid off,” Jensen said.
Three Black Fish players each finished with hat tricks – Laszlo Henning (3+3), Nick Jensen (3+1) and Brian Gillis (3+1) while Ryan Jensen added two goals and five points. Ryan Jones (1+2), Reese Barnes (1+1) and Conrad Squarek (1+1) rounded out the team’s attack.
Ryan Jensen was the game’s third star, with Grizzlies goaltender Kyle Mooney earning the second star following his 41-save performance.
Offensively, the Grizzlies were led by Sekawnee Baker’s two goals and seven points. He was one of five Grizzlies with multi-goal games along side Mitch McDole (2+3), Brian Smith (2+1), Erik Maas (2+1) and Braydon Laity (2+0). Alex Dozzi (1+1) and Stryker Roloff (1+0) rounded out the team’s scoring.
RECENT ACTION: Sea Spray, Shooting Eagles week 13 winners in Arena Lacrosse League action
A little league background
Formed in 2017, the Arena Lacrosse League (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.
Four ALL west teams are based at the Langley Events Centre: Black Fish, Grizzlies, Sea Spray, Shooting Eagles.
To learn about the league, visit www.arenalacrosseleague.ca.
RELATED: New lacrosse league to call Langley Events Centre home
.
Is there more to the story? Email: news@langleyadvancetimes.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
LacrosseLangleyLangley Events CentreSports
