The Grizzlies rode strong goaltending to a second straight victory, while the Shooting Eagles continue to fill the back of the net, this time earning their first win of the season in week 2 action of the Arena Lacrosse League West Division.
The four-team division played a pair of weekday games on Tuesday and Wednesday at Langley Events Centre.
Shooting Eagles 15 Sea Spray 11
Sometimes too much time to think can be a detriment to an athlete. Apparently, that was not the case with Cole Paciejewski.
“I had a long drive from Prince George down to Langley this morning, so I had about eight hours to think about the game. It was a bit nerve-wracking coming all the way down here, so I was pretty happy to get right in and contribute some goals and come away with the win,” he said following his first-star performance on Wednesday night.
Paciejewski scored four times to help the Shooting Eagles defeat the Sea Spray 15-11 in week two action of the Arena Lacrosse League West Division at Langley Events Centre on Wednesday night. The win improves the Shooting Eagles to 1-1 while the Sea Spray sit at 0-2.
This marked the second straight game the team managed to score 15 goals, but this time, the Shooting Eagles allowed 11 instead of 16 to earn the victory.
“We had a line-up of a bunch of guys still trying to make the team and tonight was their time to do that and they stepped up,” said coach Adam Smith.
The teams were tied at three late in the first quarter before the Shooting Eagles potted goals 23 seconds apart in the final minute for a 5-3 lead. The second period was another story, however, as the Sea Spray dominated the 15 minutes to lead 8-6.
“A dozen missed shots, a half dozen missed passes, so we came into the locker room and said let’s get back to focusing on what we are supposed to be doing. Let’s worry about our structure first, let’s worry about making the passes and catches and when we get a shot, let’s make sure that it is a shot on net,” Smith said.
And Smith’s talk obviously worked as the Sea Spray were shutout the entire quarter while the Shooting Eagles scored eight times while allowing no goals for the 14-8 lead. The Sea Spray had three of the final four goals, but the deficit was too much to overcome.
“At halftime, we just said the team that is going to work harder and gets more loose balls and little things is going to be the team that comes away with the win. We did all the little things right in the third quarter and it helped us get some good goals there,” Paciejewski said.
While Paciejewski earned first star honours, the Sea Spray’s Keegan Bell was the second star thanks to a five-goal, seven-point night. Shooting Eagles goalie Tristan Lomas was star No. 3 as he made 31 saves on 42 shots.
For the Shooting Eagles, Coady Adamson (3+2) had five points and Spencer Bromley and Garrett Winter each had a goal and three helpers. Mark Yingling (2+1), Tim Whipple (0+3), Tomas Jeck (1+2), Dylan Lacroix (2+0) and Doug Porter (1+0) rounded out the team’s scoring.
While Bell led the Sea Spray with seven points, Adam Dickson (3+2), Parker Kump (0+4) and Nathan McKeigan (2+2) also had big games. Kump set up the first four goals for his team before leaving with an injury in the second quarter. Jared Moloci (1+1) had the other goal for the Sea Spray and in net, both Reed Watson (24 saves on 33 shots) and Ashton Leclair (15 saves on 31 shots) saw action.
Grizzlies 12 Black Fish 8
For the second consecutive game, goaltender Kyle Mooney earned first star honours, making 40 saves as the Grizzlies defeated the Black Fish 12-8.
The two teams were playing on Tuesday night at Langley Events Centre to kick off week 2 action of the Arena Lacrosse League West Division with the Grizzlies improving to 2-0 while the Black Fish fell to 1-1.
The Black Fish led 3-2 late in the first quarter but a 6-1 run over the next 16:35 gave the Grizzlies the lead for good. On three separate occasions, the Black Fish managed to get the deficit down to a pair of goals but could come no closer with the Grizzlies being especially stingy in the second half as they allowed just a single goal over the final 19:24.
Mitch McDole (2+2) and Pearson Willis (3+1) led the way with four points apiece for the Grizzlies while Alex Dozzi (2+1), Jake Stott (1+2) and Joseph Callard (1+2) each had three-point games. Braydon Laity (2+0) and Mitchell Nolet (1+0) rounded out the scoring.
The Black Fish were led by two goals and three points apiece from Ryan Jones and Nick Jensen while Chase McIntyre, Jordan Roberts and Brian Gillis had a goal an assist apiece. Erik Forsellius had the other goal. For the second straight game, the Black Fish split their goaltending duties with each playing a half. Matt Hills allowed eight goals on 31 shots while Ryder Bremner stopped 24 of 28 shots.
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All four teams are now off until Sunday, Nov. 27 when they return to the floor at Langley Events Centre for a doubleheader with the Sea Spray facing the Black Fish at 1 p.m. while the Grizzlies battle the Shooting Eagles at 4 p.m.
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