Two lengthy streaks were snapped on Saturday afternoon, Jan. 25, as the Grizzlies broke a seven-game winless streak thanks to an 11-7 win over the Black Fish while the Shooting Eagles saw their eight-game winning streak come to an end following an 11-9 loss to the Sea Spray.
The four teams were playing week 9 action of the Arena Lacrosse League West Division at Langley Events Centre.
Grizzlies 11 Black Fish 7
Kyle Brunsch knew the offence had to reward their defence following a masterclass by the team’s backend.
“We knew the D bailed us out in the first half and we owed them one. We just went out there in the second half and executed,” Brunsch said, referring the fact that despite the Grizzlies allowing no goals over the first 30 minutes, the team was only ahead 2-0 heading into the locker room.
The third quarter was a different story, however, as the Grizzlies came out of the locker room and scored seven times. By comparison, their Black Fish opponents managed just eight shots on goals over those 15 minutes. The dominant stretch extended the Grizzlies lead to 9-1 with a quarter to play as they ended a seven-game losing streak with an 11-7 victory.
The Arena Lacrosse League West Division game was played on Saturday afternoon at Langley Events Centre with the Grizzlies improving to 2-7 while the Black Fish falling for a second-straight week to see their record fall to 4-5. They had previously won four straight games.
“We finally put together almost a full 60 minutes, which felt really good,” Brunsch said, referencing the offence’s ball movement and unselfish play. “And our D was a brick wall.”
Central to the team’s defensive effort was goaltender Christian Del Bianco, who pitched a shutout for the first 30:33 before he was finally beaten. That was the lone goal to get past him in the first 51 minutes before the Black Fish made the score respectable with a flurry of goals in the final nine minutes.
Del Bianco finished with 49 saves on 56 shots, an .875 save percentage.
“I think garbage time, we maybe let off the pedal a bit, but that’s lacrosse, that’s sports. But I think overall, it felt we were more complete. Defensively, we were talking well,” Del Bianco explained.
Sea Spray 11 Shooting Eagles 9
It took until week 9, but a team was finally able to get the best of the Shooting Eagles. Sea Spray used a 6-0 run to hand the Eagles their first loss of the season, topping the previously unbeaten squad 11-9.
The Shooting Eagles saw their record fall to 8-1 with the Sea Spray improving to 4-5 in Arena Lacrosse League West Division action following the result on Saturday at Langley Events Centre.
“Great team win. We battled hard; goaltending was great. We competed well. We might not have as much talent as we have had in other games … but we worked hard today,” said Sea Spray coach Ian Paterson.
“It hopefully sends a bit of a message to the league and to our team and let them know we can compete with anybody.”
The Sea Spray have now won back-to-back games following a five-game losing streak.
Saturday’s game saw the team fall behind 3-0 less than six minutes in, and even after rallying to tie the score, the Sea Spray were down 5-3 midway in the second quarter. But a 6-0 run over the next 11:13 gave them a lead they would not relinquish.
“When you are playing with a lead against a team that is not used to being down, it just makes my job. Really credit the offence and transition in making my job easier,” explained Sea Spray goaltender Lee Jackman, who made 47 saves on 56 shots.
The Shooting Eagles were averaging 16.5 goals per game heading into Saturday with an average margin of victory of 6.6 goals per game,
“They were contesting every shot and that is a big thing. Time and space when you get to this level is at a premium, so they did a really good job of making guys on offence uncomfortable,” Jackman explained.
Up next is mid-week action for all four teams as the Grizzlies (2-7) face the Sea Spray (4-5) on Feb. 4 while the following days sees the Shooting Eagles (8-1) against the Black Fish (4-5). Both games begin at 7:30pm at Langley Events Centre.
