Shooting Eagles soar to top of standings

With four wins in five games, the Shooting Eagles sit atop the Arena Lacrosse League West Division standings at 4-1, two games ahead of the Sea Spray, Black Fish and Grizzlies, who all sport 2-3 records. Ryan Molag photo

With the season at the one-third mark, the defending champion Shooting Eagles have opened up a two-game lead atop the standings.

The Shooting Eagles were 14-11 winners over the Sea Spray on Sunday (December 10) in Arena Lacrosse League West Division action at Langley Events Centre. The earlier game saw the Black Fish offence lead the way in a 19-10 victory over the Grizzlies. 

Through five weeks of the 15-game season, the Shooting Eagles sit at 4-1 while the three other teams sport identical 2-3 records.

Black Fish 19 Grizzlies 10

After the Grizzlies scored twice to open the third quarter and cut the deficit to a pair of goals, the Black Fish responded with eight goals in the period in what became a 19-10 victory.

Four Black Fish players potted hat tricks as the team erupted for a season-high 19 goals, led by Connor Watson (3-5) and Brian Gillis (3-4), the game’s first two stars. Josh Mills (3-1) and Remo Schenato (3-0) also finished with three goals apiece while Chase McIntyre had a goal and five assists. Laszlo Henning (2-2), Ethan M’Lot (1-2), Aiden Murphy (2-0) and Jordan Roberts (1-0) rounded out the team’s scoring. 

Brandon Humphrey earned the victory in goal, stopping 30 of the 40 shots fired his way.

For the Grizzlies, Drew Kask led the team – and was the game’s third star – following a one goal, five-point effort, while Connor Whyte finished with a hat trick and four points. Sekawnee Baker scored twice, Nash Moog had a goal and three points and Garrett Lewis and Kyle Brunsch each had one goal and one assist. Will Carriere had the other Grizzlies goal.

In net, Brayden Wandler stopped 29 of 43 shots with Ryder Bremner making 11 saves on 16 shots.

Shooting Eagles 14 Sea Spray 11 

The Shooting Eagles scored the first four goals of the contest and never looked back, soaring to a fourth win in five games to open the season as they defeated the Sea Spray 14-11.

The Sea Spray did cut the deficit to a single goal in the first quarter and later pulled within a pair late in the second period but could never pull even.

Dylan McIntosh (4-2) and Coady Adamson (2-4) had matching six-point games in the win while Spencer Bromley (2-1), Connor Davidson (1-2_ and Garret Winter (1-2) each had three-point efforts. Jake Young, Isaac Richmond and Declan Fitzpatrick chipped in with a goal and an assist apiece and Dylan Lacroix scored once. Brody Harris finished with 49 saves on 60 shots for an .816 save percentage. Harris also leads the ALL West with a .791 save percentage for the season.

Sea Spray’s Adam Dickson (4-1) and Tyler Kirkby (1-5) led the way for their team while Tyler Ewen (1-3), Lukas Nielsen (2-0), Gordie Phillips (1-1), Eli Batt (1-0) and Liam Hoogstraten (1-0) also finding the back of the net. Lee Jackman made 46 saves on 60 shots.

The game’s three stars were McIntosh, Adamson and Kirkby.

Up next: The teams will play their final games of 2023 this Sunday (December 17) as the Sea Spray face the Black Fish at 1:00pm while the Grizzlies go against the Shooting Eagles at 4:00pm. 

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