Eagles rally late, defeat Sea Spray in first-place showdown

Three straight goals to close the game helped the Shooting Eagles rally for the 16-14 win over the Sea Spray in Arena Lacrosse League West Division action at Langley Events Centre on Jan. 14. Gary Ahuja photo

Trailing by a goal late with two minutes remaining, Coady Adamson and Dylan McIntosh scored 22 seconds apart with McIntosh then sealing his team’s 16-14 victory with an empty-netter.

The Shooting Eagles improved to an Arena Lacrosse League West Division best 6-2. Their opponent in Sunday’s contest at Langley Events Centre, the Sea Spray, sit tied for second at 4-4 following the defeat.

“It was a good team effort,” said Mark Yingling, who was one of four Eagles players to register a hat trick. He also set up three goals to finish with six points and was the game’s second star.

“It is easier when everyone is going and putting the ball in the net and you are not just going through one guy. That is what we do on this team: everyone plays their role well,” he added.

The Eagles were coming off a week 7 loss – just their second of the season – and trailed 10-8 after the first two periods.

Yingling said the team’s defence and goaltender Colin Jeffrey – 32 saves on 46 shots, including 17 second-half saves on 21 shots – really set the tone, as did the fact they listened to the coaching staff and stayed out of the post-whistle scrums for the most part.

“Stay focused on us and the family that we are and that helped us get to where we (needed to be),” Yingling said.

While Yingling led the way with six points, Spencer Bromley and Coady Adamson both had three goals and two assists while McIntosh (3-1) was the fourth member of the team to register a hat trick. Garret Winter (2-1), Dylan Lacroix (1-2) and Isaac Richmond (1-0) had the other goals.

For the Sea Spray, Kordell Primus was the game’s first star with six goals and seven points and Tyler Kirkby was star No. 3 following a three-goal, eight-point performance. Lukas Nielsen (2-1), Connor De Wit (1-1), Liam Hoogstraten (1-1) and Ryan Heard (1-0) rounded out the team’s offence. Keegan Melynchuk stopped 48 of 63 shots as his team was outshot in the game.

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