Yingling leads the way as Shooting Eagles advance back to West finals

Jackson Ganton (left) and the Shooting Eagles are off the Arena Lacrosse League West Finals for a third straight year after defeating the Grizzlies 17-12 on March 29 at Langley Events Centre. Ryan Molag photo

The Shooting Eagles never trailed in the contest, leading 4-1 after the quarter and holding a multi-goal lead the rest of the way for the 17-12 win over the Grizzlies.

The Eagles – the top team in the regular season at 11-3 – dressed nearly a full line-up for the first time in quite a while and had 10 players find the back of the net and 13 of their 18 runners register at least one point.

“Having the full line-up today was a big bonus for us; it’s been a while since we had that,” said Mark Yingling, the game’s first star after registering four goals and six points. “Everyone looked incredible: great goaltending, battling for loose balls.”

With nearly a full complement of their players, it meant people were no longer playing out of position and back in their familiar roles, he added.

One of the returnees was Garret Winter, who missed the team’s past three games, with Yingling saying that the forward’s return helped open up the floor for the offence. Winter finished with a pair of goals and four points.

Keegan Kozack (1-4), Dylan Lacroix (3-1), Jake Young (2-2), Aiden Hindson (1-3), Coady Adamson (1-2), Jackson Ganton (1-1), Tysen Nielsen (1-0) and Declan Fitzpatrick (1-0) completing the scoring. In goal, Colin Jeffrey saves 31 of 43 shots.

The Grizzlies’ Toru Morimatsu paced the offence with four goals and two assists while Erik Forsselius (1-4), Kyle Brunsch (1-3), Dennon Armstrong (2-1), James Baker (1-2), Drew Kask (2-0) and Aidan Baker (1-1) also scoring and finishing with multi-point games. Brayden Wandler made 35 saves on 50 shots for the Grizzlies.

UP NEXT: The ALL West championship series will be played on April 5 and 6 at Langley Events Centre with both games beginning at 1:00pm. Should the teams each win one game, a 10-minute mini-game will be played following a short break after the conclusion of the April 6 contest.

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