Lacroix, Bromley pot 5 goals apiece as Shooting Eagles defeat Black Fish

Garrett Winter had 6 assists and 7 points as the Shooting Eagles defeated the Black Fish 15-9 in Arena Lacrosse League action on Sunday at Langley Events Centre. Gary Ahuja LEC photo

Dylan Lacroix scored four times in a 4:32 span as part of a five-goal effort as the Shooting Eagles knocked off the Black Fish 15-9 on Sunday in week 4 action of the Arena Lacrosse League West Division at Langley Events Centre.

“I just blacked out; I don’t even know. Every play I just seemed to get open in the middle and get a good opportunity and they were just going in for me,” he said following his first-star performance.

The Shooting Eagles lead the ALL West with 54 goals (13.5 per game) on the season and with a balanced attack as Sunday saw both Lacroix (5+2) and Spencer Bromley (5+1) score five goals apiece while Garrett Winter facilitated the offence with 6 assists and 7 points.

“Any game can be anyone’s night when an offensive unit plays like that. We got looks and it ended in my stick a few times and Brom’s stick a few times. That is just how it went,” Lacroix said. “Everyone was moving the ball so well: cutting and no one was holding the ball, it wasn’t dying on one side. We played like a team the whole game.”

For the first three quarters, it was a tight contest with the Shooting Eagles ahead 9-8 with a period to play, before they put the game to bed thanks to a 6-1 fourth-quarter advantage.

Shooting Eagles coach Adam Smith was happy with the result but was not overly impressed with his team, especially in the first half.

“It felt like at times everyone was just running around trying to hit or prove themselves individually. What we tried to focus on was that is never going to win (the game) so let’s focus on team, and communication and team defence,” he said.

“When we went into intermission, that is what the focus was. Get away from getting emotionally engaged and get back to what we are trying to accomplish as a team.”

Both Shooting Eagles goaltenders saw action in the contest with Connor Nichol making 28 saves on 33 shots while Thomas Ungaro stopped 14 of 18 shots and had a pair of assists.

Mark Yingling (1+3), Jackson Ganton (1+2) and Ethan Self (2+0) had the other Shooting Eagles goals.

BOX SCOER

Chase McIntyre (3+2) and Jordan Roberts (1+4) led the Black Fish with five points apiece while Drew Kask (1+2), Ryan Jones (1+1), Brian Gillis (2+0) and Rhys London (1+0) had the other goals. Ryan Atkinson made 28 saves on 42 shots.

The game’s three stars were Lacroix, McIntyre and Winter.