Shooting Eagles offence continues torrid pace

Shooting Eagles' Nick Musso is double-teamed by Sea Spray's Aidan Ellis and Levi Touhey during Arena Lacrosse League West Division action at Langley Events Centre on Nov. 30. Gary Ahuja photo

Another week and another dominant performance.

After a record-breaking game which saw them score 30, the Shooting Eagles offence was not nearly as prolific, and yet they still managed 17 goals – the second-highest total by any Arena Lacrosse League West Division team through four weeks – in a 17-7 victory over the Sea Spray.

The teams were playing on Saturday afternoon at Langley Events Centre with the Shooting Eagles holding a two-game lead at 4-0 over the second-place Sea Spray (2-2).

Saturday’s contest was close through the first 19 minutes with the Eagles ahead 5-4 before they extended the lead to 7-4 heading into half-time. The second half was a different story as they held the Sea Spray to three goals while tallying 10 of their own for the lopsided 17-7 final score.

“After halftime, we started pushing transition. We were subbing early and doing all that lazy stuff, but we got a foot up the rear end and started pushing in transition and that gave our offence more time to create more chances,” said Lucas Parsons-Quintiao, who was part of a stellar defensive group for the Shooting Eagles.

He also credited the team for their increased communication when on the floor.

While Parsons-Quintiao and the back end locking things down defensively, they were able to pursue loose balls and get more opportunities for their dynamic offence which boasts a varied scoring attack with multiple weapons.

On Saturday it was Dylan McIntosh who made his season debut – he has been with the National Lacrosse League’s Vancouver Warriors during training camp – and scored five times to go along with two assists.

Captain Coady Adamson also made his season debut, finishing with a hat trick and four points while Mark Yingling had four goals and six points. Dylan Lacroix added a pair of goals as part of his five-point game.

Yingling leads the ALL West with 14 goals and 24 points while Lacroix is second in goals (11), assists (12) and points (23).

“The diversity; each week it seems like we are getting someone else who fits in that spot and everything is just clicking,” marveled Parsons-Quintiao.

Parsons-Quintiao, Jake Young and Doug Porter each added a goal.

In net, Colin Jeffrey made 33 saves on 40 shots.

The Sea Spray were missing some regulars, resulting in some of their normal defenders playing out of position on offence.

“It was a tough one, but it’s a long season,” said coach Ian Paterson.

“We had a different line-up than normal, guys that hadn’t played together before. We had some younger kids playing and that is what this league is all about: developing the young guys. There are definitely things to be looking forward to and that is all you can ask.”

James Rahe led the Sea Spray with a hat trick, but Paterson said losing him to a 10-minute misconduct late in the first quarter was a big turning point as it was a one-goal game when he sat down and the Sea Spray were down multiple goals by the team he returned and they could not recover.

While Rahe had the three goals, Trevayne Hunter (1-4) and Joshua Yachney (2-2) also had multi-point games. Eli Batt added a pair of assists with Seamus Bankier tallying the other goal.

Both Sea Spray goaltenders saw action in net with Marc Rippberger making 19 saves on 30 shots while Lee Jackman stopped 21 of 27.

Next: Week 5 sees the Sea Spray face the Black Fish at 1:00pm while the Grizzlies take on the Shooting Eagles at 4:00pm. Both games are on Saturday, December 7 at Langley Events Centre.

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