Rahe sets ALL West record, but under-the-weather McIntosh leads Eagles to victory

James Rahe scored eight times -- a new Arena Lacrosse League West record -- but his Sea Spray squad fell short, losing 17-14 to the Shooting Eagles on Jan. 4 at Langley Events Centre. Gary Ahuja photo

Not feeling well ahead of Saturday’s game, Dylan McIntosh warned coach Adam Smith that he wasn’t sure how much he would be able to give, or if he would even make it through the entire 60 minutes.

Needless to say, McIntosh could not have given his Shooting Eagles team much more.

McIntosh scored a sock trick with his six goals leading the Eagles to a 17-14 win over the Sea Spray on Saturday afternoon at Langley Events Centre, improving his team to 6-0 in the Arena Lacrosse League West Division. The Sea Spray saw their record fall to 2-4.

“When your energy isn’t where you want it to be, you have to play a little smarter, slow the game down,” he explained. “I got to the right spots and my teammates hit me where I wanted the ball, and my shots were going.”

As great of a game as McIntosh had, he was still relegated to second-star honours as the Sea Spray’s James Rahe potted eight goals and one assist to earn the first star. The eight goals also set a new ALL West record for goals in a game, bettering the previous mark of seven which was held by multiple players.

McIntosh said having someone on the opposition putting up monster numbers definitely gets his attention.

“Absolutely it motivates me. I want to be the one leading in the points department and when I have a guy like James Rahe – a phenomenal player – going point-for-point, it motivates me, absolutely,” McIntosh said.

McIntosh – who is on the practice squad for the NLL’s Vancouver Warriors – has suited up in three of the Eagles’ six games with 14 goals.

“We are super fortunate to have him with us. I think at any point in time, he can go up to the other league and do well. As long as he is with us, we will take advantage,” said coach Adam Smith. “He seems to be in the right spot on the floor and takes the right cuts at the right time.”

Ten different Eagles players found the back of the net, as in addition to McIntosh’s six goals, Garret Winter (3-2), Declan Fitzpatrick (2-3), Dylan Lacroix (1-4) and Mark Yingling (1-4) each had five-point games. Tysen Nielsen (1-1), Aiden Hindson, Blake Young and Coady Adamson completed the scoring with a goal apiece.

Deklan Morrison earned the victory between the pipes, getting his first ALL action and making 31 saves on 41 shots.

In addition to Rahe’s eight goals and nine points, Thomas Semple (2-5), Trevayne Hunter (2-3) and Austin Robinson (2-2) each scored twice. Marc Rippberger stopped 43 of 60 shots.

UP NEXT: All four teams are back in action at Langley Events Centre on Saturday (Jan. 11) with the Black Fish (3-3) facing the Sea Spray (2-4) at 3:00pm followed by the Shooting Eagles (6-0) and Grizzlies (1-5) at 6:00pm.

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