Justin Ivey, Co-Editor
Lacrosse is Awesome©
The Ottawa Black Bears (4-4) hosted the Vancouver Warriors (4-2) Friday night at Canadian Tire Centre for the second game of the week nine schedule. The unbalanced game saw both teams combine for 16 goals in the first half and only four in the second. Vancouver was able to jump out to an early lead behind strong play from Keegan Bal (3G, 2A) and Jesse King (2G, 4A) but it was the balanced offense and defense (five players had multiple goals) that allowed them to hold off the high-powered Ottawa offense from making a comeback. Led by Jeff Teat (3G, 3A) and Connor Kearnan (2G, 2A), they did sway the tide to close the second half but were unable to muster enough scoring opportunities to find a late game lead. Zach Higgins (11GA, 28SV) took the loss for Ottawa in goal while Christian Del Bianco (8GA, 42SV) took the win for Vancouver and became just the fourth goaltender in NLL history to reach 100 career assists. Final Score: Vancouver Warriors – 12, Ottawa Black Bears – 8.
Shane Simpson (2G, 2A) jump started the night for the visiting Warriors, scoring with a laser shot in transition that found the top corner above Higgins’ shoulder. Just over three minutes later, Curtis Dickson (2G, 2A) scored on a power play opportunity with an outside sidearm cannon. The goal was initially called off, but after a break in play and review, the goal was awarded. King made it a three-goal run with his first goal of the game, also a power play score, just under a minute later. 5:40 into the game, and Vancouver had a three-goal lead. Ottawa finally found a goal 28 second after the King goal, as Larson Sundown (1G, 1A) snuck to the crease from behind the net and buried a quick stick off the cross-turf pass from Kearnan. The goal did not carry any momentum, as King got the Vancouver lead back to three with 6:23 to play and Matt Beers (1G, 1A) extended it to four with an unassisted goal off a bad clear with 1:23 left. Kearnan would score diving into the crease just 28 seconds later to close the quarter. At the end of the first quarter, Vancouver led Ottawa 5-2.
The Vancouver flurry continued to start the second quarter. Simpson scored the opening goal of the quarter (again) but this time it was Del Bianco with the assist on the long clear, the 100th of his career. Dickson found the net again just over a minute later, and then just under the 10-minute left mark, Adam Charalambides (2G, 2A) and Bal both found the net. With 9:25 remaining, Ottawa was now down seven. Teat, held without a point up until this point, finally found an opening for his first goal of the game with 8:33 left. His high shot went through a screen and nestled into the top corner. Scoring stalled for a couple minutes before Bal put Vancouver in double digits with 4:14 remaining. In the waning minutes though, Ottawa poured in three unanswered. Sam Firth (1G) started the onslaught followed 12 seconds later by Teat’s second score of the quarter. Kearnan wrapped it up with a power play goal and 1:13 until the half. At the half, Vancouver led Ottawa 10-6.
The 16 goal first half was not foreshadowing of an offensive explosion in the second half. Goals were tough to come by in the final 30 minutes as both goaltenders and defenses buckled down. It took just over three minutes before Bal scored the first goal of the second half on a power play and extended the Vancouver lead to five. Teat scored his hat trick goal rolling off a screen and firing from the middle of the zone a minute later and then the scoring halted for nearly eight and a half minutes. The Black Bears found themselves finally within reach of Vancouver as Jacob Dunbar (1G) scored with 2:25 left. At the end of the third quarter, Vancouver led Ottawa 11-8.
The fourth quarter was a defensive class. Charalambides would score the lone goal of the quarter 46 seconds into play on an assist from Simpson to bring the Vancouver lead back to four. For the rest of the game, neither team could find the net even as Ottawa tried with the extra attacker in the closing minutes. Final Score: Vancouver Warriors – 12, Ottawa Black Bears – 8.
Up Next:
The Vancouver Warriors (4-2) travel to play the Rochester Knighthawks on Saturday, January 31 at 7:00 PM EST.
The Ottawa Black Bears (4-4) travel to play the Toronto Rock on Saturday, January 31 at 7:00 PM EST.