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Sea Spray down Shooting Eagles at Langley Events Centre

ALL action resumes this weekend
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Sea Spray Lacrosse Club defeated the Shooting Eagles 17-16 in Arena Lacrosse League West Division action at Langley Events Centre on Dec. 12. (Damon James, Langley Events Centre/Special to Langley Advance Times)

There was no early-season rust when it came to the offensive side of the floor as the Sea Spray Lacrosse Club and Shooting Eagles Lacrosse Club combined for 33 goals in their respective Arena Lacrosse League debuts.

The two West Division foes hit the floor for the first time on Sunday, Dec. 12, at Langley Events Centre with Tyler Kirkby’s power-play goal with 6:46 remaining proving to be the game-winning tally. Kirkby scored 67 seconds after teammate Nick Preston had snapped a tie game. Jake Forster did cut the deficit to one goal with 3:33 to play, but that would be it for the offence as Kirkby’s tally stood as the winner as the Sea Spray knocked off the Shooting Eagles 17-16.

READ ALSO: Grizzlies down Blackfish as Arena Lacrosse League (ALL) begins play in Langley

It was a balanced attack for the Sea Spray as they had six players (Kevin Powers, Keegan Bell, John Hofseth, Preston Lupul, Nick Preston and David Byrne) each score two goals with Sam Clare, Parker Kump, Adam Dickson and Dalton Lupul tallying a goal apiece.

Clare also had five assists to earn the game’s first star, while Kump, Powers and Bell each had four-point games.

“I just wanted to come in and make everyone around me a bit better, wanted to provide a bit of a distraction to a lot of the other guys out there, open space up,” he said.

Sea Spray Lacrosse Club defeated the Shooting Eagles 17-16 in Arena Lacrosse League West Division action at Langley Events Centre on Dec. 12. (Damon James, Langley Events Centre/Special to Langley Advance Times)
Sea Spray Lacrosse Club defeated the Shooting Eagles 17-16 in Arena Lacrosse League West Division action at Langley Events Centre on Dec. 12. (Damon James, Langley Events Centre/Special to Langley Advance Times)

Sea Spray coach Russ Heard liked his team’s effort – and the fact they got the two points – but knows that they made mistakes which need correcting if the team wants success moving forward.

The Sea Spray were up 12-8 five minutes into the third quarter, but then watched as the Shooting Eagles scored the period’s final four goals to knot the score at 12.

“We try not to beat them when they are down, you try and lift them up,” Heard said.

The teams traded goals to open the fourth before the Shooting Eagles pulled ahead 15-13 less than four minutes into the final period, but the Sea Spray would respond with four of the final five goals to earn the two points.

Matteo Tack made 37 saves on 53 shots for the Sea Spray while his counterpart Andrew Gallant made 47 saves on 63 shots for the Shooting Eagles.

READ ALSO: New lacrosse league to call Langley Events Centre home

Shooting Eagles were led offensively by three goals and six points from Dean Fairall and two goals apiece from Jake Forster, Greg Lunde, Cole Christiaens and Mark Yingling. Forster also had three assists for a five-point game, while Lunde added two assists and was the game’s second star. Preston Lupul (Sea Spray) was the game’s third star.

Shooting Eagles coach Adam Smith liked his offence and how they moved the ball around, especially against a quality netminder like Matteo Tack, but knows defensively surrendering 17 goals in a game is not a recipe for success.

Sea Spray Lacrosse Club defeated the Shooting Eagles 17-16 in Arena Lacrosse League West Division action at Langley Events Centre on Dec. 12. (Damon James, Langley Events Centre/Special to Langley Advance Times)
Sea Spray Lacrosse Club defeated the Shooting Eagles 17-16 in Arena Lacrosse League West Division action at Langley Events Centre on Dec. 12. (Damon James, Langley Events Centre/Special to Langley Advance Times)

“We have to clean some stuff up on the back end,” he said.

In the fourth quarter, they were caught out of position and the Sea Spray capitalized.

“We stopped talking and were caught out of position and all of a sudden, they pop in three of four goals and go on a run,” Smith said.

Shooting Eagles are back in action on Saturday, Dec. 18 against the Grizzlies while the Sea Sprayface the Black Fish on Sunday, Dec. 19. Both games begin at 6 p.m.


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