Dominant effort as Shooting Eagles eliminate Grizzlies

Spencer Bromley (left) and Mark Yingling celebrate a Shooting Eagles goal during their team's 18-5 semi-final win over the Grizzlies on March 24 in Arena Lacrosse League West Division action at Langley Events Centre. Ryan Molag photo

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.

The win sends the defending champion Shooting Eagles into the championship series, which runs March 27 and 28 at Langley Events Centre, with a 7:00pm start both nights.

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.

“The ball got moving and we got some goals early. By the time the game got into the second half, it was about killing the clock and using it and making sure we were focused on the defence first to maintain that lead,” Smith said.

Playing with the lead is always advantageous as opposed to having to exert energy to make up a deficit. But it was even more important for the Shooting Eagles in Sunday’s contest as they were down a couple of bodies up front, so having the lead helped alleviate some of that pressure on their forward group.

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.

With the team playing lockdown defence at one end, the offence had four players finish with three or more goals, led by Dylan Lacroix’s four goals and seven points with Spencer Bromley and Mark Yingling each potting hat tricks as par to their seven-point games. Bromley and Lacroix were the second and third stars, respectively.

Coady Adamson (3-2) also had a three-goal game while Garrett Winter (1-5), Declan Fitzpatrick (2-1) and Doug Porter (1-1) had multi-point games. Ben Gagnon had the other goal for the Shooting Eagles and Tyson Johnson had another strong showing on face-offs, winning 18 of the 26 draws he took. The Eagles also won the special teams battle, scoring four power-play goals while the Grizzlies were blanked on their two opportunities.

Kyle Brunsch was the lone Grizzlies player to post a multi-goal game, finishing with two goals and four points. Brian Smith and Pearson Willis each had a goal and a helper while Aidan Baker scored once. Both Grizzlies goalies saw action with Brayden Wandler finishing with 19 saves on 28 shots and Ryder Bremner stopping 33 of 42 shots.

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ls (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.

“The ball got moving and we got some goals early. By the time the game got into the second half, it was about killing the clock and using it and making sure we were focused on the defence first to maintain that lead,” Smith said.

Playing with the lead is always advantageous as opposed to having to exert energy to make up a deficit. But it was even more important for the Shooting Eagles in Sunday’s contest as they were down a couple of bodies up front, so having the lead helped alleviate some of that pressure on their forward group.

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.

With the team playing lockdown defence at one end, the offence had four players finish with three or more goals, led by Dylan Lacroix’s four goals and seven points with Spencer Bromley and Mark Yingling each potting hat tricks as par to their seven-point games. Bromley and Lacroix were the second and third stars, respectively.

Coady Adamson (3-2) also had a three-goal game while Garrett Winter (1-5), Declan Fitzpatrick (2-1) and Doug Porter (1-1) had multi-point games. Ben Gagnon had the other goal for the Shooting Eagles and Tyson Johnson had another strong showing on face-offs, winning 18 of the 26 draws he took. The Eagles also won the special teams battle, scoring four power-play goals while the Grizzlies were blanked on their two opportunities.

Kyle Brunsch was the lone Grizzlies player to post a multi-goal game, finishing with two goals and four points. Brian Smith and Pearson Willis each had a goal and a helper while Aidan Baker scored once. Both Grizzlies goalies saw action with Brayden Wandler finishing with 19 saves on 28 shots and Ryder Bremner stopping 33 of 42 shots.

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