Pattison pots winner as Sea Spray edge Grizzlies

Evan Pattison had a huge game  scoring twice -- including the winner late in the fourth quarter -- and finishing with four points as the Sea Spray edged the Grizzlies 14-13 in Arena Lacrosse League West Division action at Langley Events Centre on Jan. 7. Gary Ahuja photo

A roller-coaster game saw Evan Pattison score the winner with just 1:12 to play as the Sea Spray hung on for a 14-13 victory.

Pattison’s transition tally came just 27 seconds after the Grizzlies had tied the score at 13 with their third consecutive goal.

The game kicked off week 7 action of the Arena Lacrosse League West Division on Sunday afternoon at Langley Events Centre as the league returned from a three-week holiday break.

And the rust was evident early on.

“You could definitely tell the guys hadn’t played in a while,” said Sea Spray coach Ian Paterson. “It took a while, but we battled hard and got the win.”

A back-and-forth first half saw the Grizzlies ahead 3-1 after a quarter and 6-5 at the half. The Grizzlies pulled ahead 9-6 in the third, but the game could have been out of reach had the Sea Spray penalty kill not stepped up at that critical juncture.

The Grizzlies were on a seven-minute power play but managed just one goal in that span and shortly after the teams returned to five-on-five, the Sea Spray responded with three goals in 45 seconds. Each team would score one more in the period, locking the game at 10 goals apiece.

The Sea Spray tacked on three more goals to start the fourth, only to watch the Grizzlies storm back with three scores of their own, setting the stage for Pattison’s heroics as the defender scored in transition, his second of the game.

Paterson said the PK came up with some impressive work.

“We were down and the game could have got away from us at that point,” he said. 

Pattison’s winning goal came in transition and was part of a two-goal, four-point game. Tyler Kirkby (1-5), Adam Dickson (3-1), Lukas Nielsen (2-2), Tyler Ewen (2-0) Gord Phillips (1-2), Kordell Primus (1-1), Liam Hoogstraten (1-1) and Jordan Gabriele (1-0) rounded out the scoring for the Sea Spray while Lee Jackman stopped 44 of 57 saves.

Kirkby continues to lead the ALL West in both points (46) and assists (38) and has six or more points in six consecutive games while Ewen and Dickson sit one-two in goals with 16 and 15, respectively. 

The Grizzlies were led by a five-goal performance by Connor Whyte, while Brian Smith (2-3) also finished with five points. Kyle Brunsch (2-2), Dylan McCormick (1-1), Ben Musso (1-1) and Nash Moog (1-1) completed the scoring for their team. Brayden Wandler finished with 36 saves on 50 shots.