ALL WEEK 6 ACTION

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 

The Arena Lacrosse League West Division resumed action following the holiday break with a doubleheader on Saturday (Jan. 4) at Langley Events Centre. 

The Shooting Eagles continued their dominant start to the season, improving to 6-0 following a 17-14 win over the Sea Spray. The Sea Spray (2-4) lost despite a record-setting night from James Rahe, as the forward set a new ALL West record with eight goals.

Earlier, the Black Fish (3-3) won for a third straight game, defeating the Grizzlies (1-5) 16-11.

Black Fish 16 Grizzlies 11

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.

Shooting Eagles 17 Sea Spray 14

Not feeling well ahead of Saturday’s game, Dylan McIntosh warned coach Adam Smith that he wasn’t sure how much he would be able to give, or if he would even make it through the entire 60 minutes.

Needless to say, McIntosh could not have given his Shooting Eagles team much more.

McIntosh scored a sock trick with his six goals leading the Eagles to a 17-14 win over the Sea Spray on Saturday afternoon at Langley Events Centre, improving his team to 6-0 in the Arena Lacrosse League West Division. The Sea Spray saw their record fall to 2-4.

“When your energy isn’t where you want it to be, you have to play a little smarter, slow the game down,” he explained. “I got to the right spots and my teammates hit me where I wanted the ball, and my shots were going.”

As great of a game as McIntosh had, he was still relegated to second-star honours as the Sea Spray’s James Rahe potted eight goals and one assist to earn the first star. The eight goals also set a new ALL West record for goals in a game, bettering the previous mark of seven which was held by multiple players.

McIntosh said having someone on the opposition putting up monster numbers definitely gets his attention.

“Absolutely it motivates me. I want to be the one leading in the points department and when I have a guy like James Rahe – a phenomenal player – going point-for-point, it motivates me, absolutely,” McIntosh said.

McIntosh – who is on the practice squad for the NLL’s Vancouver Warriors – has suited up in three of the Eagles’ six games with 14 goals. 

“We are super fortunate to have him with us. I think at any point in time, he can go up to the other league and do well. As long as he is with us, we will take advantage,” said coach Adam Smith. “He seems to be in the right spot on the floor and takes the right cuts at the right time.” 

Ten different Eagles players found the back of the net, as in addition to McIntosh’s six goals, Garret Winter (3-2), Declan Fitzpatrick (2-3), Dylan Lacroix (1-4) and Mark Yingling (1-4) each had five-point games. Tysen Nielsen (1-1), Aiden Hindson, Blake Young and Coady Adamson completed the scoring with a goal apiece.

Deklan Morrison earned the victory between the pipes, getting his first ALL action and making 31 saves on 41 shots. 

In addition to Rahe’s eight goals and nine points, Thomas Semple (2-5), Trevayne Hunter (2-3) and Austin Robinson (2-2) each scored twice. Marc Rippberger stopped 43 of 60 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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About the Arena Lacrosse League: Proud partners of the National Lacrosse League, the ALL is highly recognized as the ‘Official Minor League of the NLL.” Established in 2017, the operates an eight-team East Division based in Ontario as well as a four-team West Division, which plays out of Langley Events Centre in the Township of Langley in British Columbia. The ALL provides a high-development league for players, coaches and officials with professional aspirations. Since its inception, more than 175 ALL players have played in the NLL.