Shooting Eagles will take aim at a second consecutive Arena Lacrosse League West Division title while the Black Fish make their first appearance in the championship series, after the two teams won their respective semi-final games on Sunday (March 24) setting up a best-of-three championship series on March 27 and 28 at Langley Events Centre.
Should the teams split the first two games, they will play a 10-minute mini-game following the conclusion of game two.
Goaltending was the story in both victories as the winning teams held their respective opponents to single digits. In the first game, the Black Fish triumphed 19-6 over the Sea Spray, while in the latter, it was the Shooting Eagles posting an 18-5 win over the Grizzlies.
Black Fish 19 Sea Spray 6
The third time was the charm for the Black Fish.
In all three seasons of existence for the Arena Lacrosse League West Division, the two teams have squared off in the semi-final round, with the Sea Spray prevailing in both 2022 and 2023. But on Sunday afternoon at Langley Events Centre, the Black Fish exacted a measure of revenge, never trailing in a 19-6 one-sided victory.
Goaltending was key in the game as the Black Fish’s Brandon Humphrey was sensational, finishing with 39 saves on 45 shots, an .867 save percentage.
“The defence just played great in front of me,” Humphrey said. “We went in with a game plan of who we wanted to get their looks and how we wanted to shut down their best opportunities.”
“It was one of those perfect games, from our goaltender, defence, offence, all our special teams, everything clicked and went our way. This was probably our best game in 3 years in the ALL,” said Black Fish coach Rod Jensen.
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Shooting Eagles 18 Grizzlies 5
Scoring goals has not been an issue for the Shooting Eagles, who led the Arena Lacrosse League West Division with 220 goals (14.7 per game). The problem, however, is that among the four teams, the Eagles also allowed the most goals, at 13.9.
But on Sunday afternoon at Langley Events Centre – with a spot in the championship series on the line – the Shooting Eagles delivered a masterful performance in defeating the Grizzlies 18-5.
The Grizzlies entered the game second in the league at 13.4 goals per game, but found little success on the offensive end, managing just five goals on 46 shots.
“That felt good. We watched a lot of video and looked at player tendencies and asked them to do things. It doesn’t always work, but today, they came out and executed everything we asked them to,” said Shooting Eagles coach Adam Smith.
Aside from the opening three minutes when each team tallied once, the Shooting Eagles led for the rest of the contest, holding the Grizzlies to a pair of goals in the opening quarter and then allowing just a single score in each of the remaining three periods.
And when the Grizzlies did get looks at the net, goaltender Alex Buque was a brick wall, stopping 33 of 37 shots before heading to the bench for the final 9:21. Colin Jeffrey came on in relief and finished with eight saves on nine shots.
“The guys played great. They definitely made my job easier, allowing me to see the ball and see the play develop,” said Buque, who was named first star.
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