Three straight wins for surging Black Fish

Nicholas Krawczyk (right) shields the ball from the Grizzlies' Ethan Quinn during Arena Lacrosse League West Division action at Langley Events Centre on Jan. 4. The Black Fish won 16-11, the team's third straight victory. Gary Ahuja photo

Make it three straight wins for the surging Black Fish.

Following an 0-3 start to the season, the Black Fish evened their record to 3-3 following a 16-11 win over the Grizzlies on Saturday afternoon at Langley Events Centre in Arena Lacrosse League West Division action. The Grizzlies suffered a fifth straight defeat and now sit at 1-5.

Making his season debut for the Black Fish, Brandon Humphrey – the two-time ALL West Most Outstanding Goaltender – stopped 33 of 40 shots before heading to the bench for the fourth quarter. Keegan Okino finished up with nine saves on 13 shots.

“Even though I love having him, there is no question in my mind, Brandon should be on a team in the NLL,” said Black Fish coach Rod Jensen, adding that the goaltender provides an added sense of security and confidence to his teammates just because of his experience and resume.

Trailing 3-2 late in the first quarter, they rattled off seven unanswered goals as they held a commanding advantage for the duration of the game.

With Humphrey providing stellar goaltending at one end of the floor, Ethan M’Lot led the Black Fish attack with four goals and seven points, earning first star honours.

“Everyone was just knocking off the Christmas dinner and the holiday break but as soon as we got going, no one could stop us there for a bit,” M’Lot said.

The Black Fish entered the game without their full complement of players but that did not stop the team from scoring 16 goals, matching their season high from their final contest of 2024.

“Sometimes when you are short player, you come out and play well, and that’s what we did today,” Jensen said. “And on offence, we had good feet, good ball movement and were able to keep them off guard.”

They also had a balanced attack with Rhys Porteous registering a hat trick and four points – and the third star – while Ryan Jones, Drew Andre, Temeke7 Gottfriedsen and Kordell Primus each scoring twice. Jones added a pair of helpers while Andre and Gottfriedsen chipped in an assist apiece. Brian Gillis rounded out the scoring with a goal and three helpers.

“We are just coming together and we are flowing. No one is being selfish and the ball is going in the net,” M’Lot said.

Kyle Brunsch earned second star honours after leading the Grizzlies with five goals and seven points. Trevor Funk added a goal and two assists with Marcello Mannarino, Pearson Willis and Toru Morimatsu finishing with a goal and a helper each. Jaden Laberge had the other goal.

Both goalies saw action with Ryder Bremner stopping 28 of 37 shots and Brayden Wandler saving 12 of 19 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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