A half-game out of the final playoff spot, the Vancouver Stealth get set for the stretch drive with a road game against the top team in the National Lacrosse League, the Edmonton Rush.
The Stealth (3-7) play in Edmonton (8-0) on Saturday night as Vancouver resumes play after a nearly three-week schedule break.
But while the struggling club had hoped to use their hiatus to get healthy, they have instead lost a pair of defenders in captain Kyle Sorenson and Chris O’Dougherty.
Sorenson has battled injuries all season and had just returned to the line-up when he was hurt again in his first game back. O’Dougherty missed the last two games.
It was announced last week (Feb. 25) that both players had undergone arthroscopic surgery and will be out four to six weeks.
“Obviously losing veteran players like Kyle and Chris for an extended period of time is not the news we wanted heading into the second half of the season,” said Stealth president and general manager Doug Locker.
“These guys are virtually impossible to replace, but we have immense confidence in our defensive corps and will ask them to step up in a big way during the time that Kyle and Chris are out of our lineup.”
The club also announced some other roster moves, which include signing left-handed forward Jamie Lincoln, defensemen Brad Richardson and Bradley Kri.
Lincoln adds scoring depth and experience as he had 42 goals over the past two seasons with the Colorado Mammoth. He is also a former winner of the Bill Dickinson Trophy as the top scorer in the B.C. Junior A Lacrosse League with 63 goals and 87 points in 20 games back in 2007. He has also won a pair of Mann Cup (senior A) and a Minto Cup (junior A).
Richardson also has NLL experience spending 2010 and 2011 with the Mammoth and was on the 2005 Minto Cup team with Lincoln.
Kri, who is on the Stealth’s practice roster, was the 14th overall pick in the 2012 NLL Draft and spent last season on the Toronto Rock practice roster.
To make room for Kri, the Stealth released Sean Lundstrom. The undrafted free agent from Langley made the team out of training camp.
The Stealth, who have just one win in their past seven games, next play at the Langley Events Centre on March 21 when they host the Calgary Roughnecks.