The best-of-three Arena Lacrosse League West Division championship series begins Wednesday at the LEC
The Shooting Eagles will seek a second consecutive Arena Lacrosse League West Division title while the Black Fish will make their first appearance in the championship series, after both teams won their respective semi-final games on Sunday (March 24) to -set up a best-of-three championship series on March 27 and 28 at the Langley Events Center.
If the teams split the first two games, they will play a 10-minute mini-game following the conclusion of the second game.
Goaltending was the story in both victories as the winning teams held their opponents to single digits. In the first game, the Black Fish prevailed 19-6 against the Sea Spray, while in the last, it was the Shooting Eagles who posted an 18-5 win over the Grizzlies.
Black Fish 19 Sea Spray 6
Third time’s the charm for Black Fish.
In all three seasons of existence for the Arena Lacrosse League West Division, the two teams have squared off in the semi-final round, with the Sea Spray dominating in both 2022 and 2023. But on Sunday afternoon at Langley Events Center, the Black Fish took a measure of revenge, unable to follow through with a 19-6 one-sided win.
Goaltending was key in the game as Black Fish Brandon Humphrey was sensational, finishing with 39 saves on 45 shots, a .867 save percentage.
“The defense played really well in front of me,” Humphrey said. “We went into a game plan of who we wanted to get their looks and how we wanted to close out their best opportunities.”
“It was one of those perfect games, from our goaltender, defense, offense, all our special teams, everything clicked and went our way. It was probably our best game in 3 years at EVERYTHING,” said Black Fish coach Rod Jensen.
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Shooting Eagles 18 Grizzlies 5
Scoring goals hasn’t been an issue for the Shooting Eagles, who lead the Arena Lacrosse League West Division with 220 goals (14.7 per game). The problem, however, is that of the four teams, the Eagles have also allowed the most goals, at 13.9.
But on Sunday afternoon at the Langley Events Center – with a berth in the championship series on the line – the Shooting Eagles delivered a masterful performance in defeating the Grizzlies 18-5.
The Grizzlies finished second in the league at 13.4 goals per game, but found little success on the offensive end, managing just five goals on 46 shots.
“It feels good. We watched a lot of video and looked at player attitudes and asked them to do things. It doesn’t always work, but today, they came out and did everything we asked of them,” said Shooting Eagles coach Adam Smith.
Aside from the opening three minutes when each team scored once, the Shooting Eagles led for the rest of the contest, holding the Grizzlies to a pair of goals in the opening quarter and then allowing just a single point in the each of the remaining three stages.
And when the Grizzlies found the net, goaltender Alex Buque was a brick wall, stopping 33 of 37 shots before heading to the bench for the final 9:21. Colin Jeffrey came on in relief and finished with eight saves on nine shots.
“The boys played great. They definitely made my job easier, allowing me to see the ball and see the game progress,” said Buque, who was named the first star.
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