Warriors Drop Nail-Bitter To Philly

The Warriors played an early week road game south of the 49th in a match up that saw them take on the Philadelphia Wings that came down to the later stages of the game.

If you are a fan of goals then this contest was one you were hoping to either see or listen to that featured several lead turnovers.

This was a game that lacrosse fans loved from the start featuring aggressive fourth quarter action, lots of scoring changes plus tons of impressive shots that kept the “tenders” sharp from all areas of the floor.

The home squad managed a late lead pulling out a 14-13 win over the visitors from the West Coast in a Holiday Monday afternoon game in Pennsylvania that probably had many more concerns about the Inauguration than the game itself.

Regardless, both the Warriors and Wings exchanged the lead five times in this game, with Adam Charalambides leading the way for Vancouver with five goals and four assists for nine points. Keegan Bal also had a big evening, scoring twice and adding six helpers for eight points. 

Other Warriors to score were Owen Grant (with two for a league-leading nine on the season by a defender), Johnathan Peshko, Marcus Klarich, Riley Loewen and Matt Beers.

Former Warriors forward Mitch Jones paced the Wings with five goals and six assists.

With the loss, Vancouver falls to 3-3 on the season and are in eighth place in the NLL standings as they hit the one-third mark in their schedule. 

Make plans to attend the Warriors (3-3) home game at Rogers Arena when they host the visiting 4-2 Ottawa Black Bears (4-2) Friday January 24th with the opening  face-off at 7 PM.

Notes From the Warriors site:

Game Highlights:

• Bides Loads Up: Vancouver forward Adam Charalambides put up a career-high nine points with five goals and four assists on the evening. Charalambides’ previous game high was eight points, something that he did three times last season.

• Stathakis Shines Again: Rookie faceoff specialist and defender Alec Stathakis is making a statement in his first pro season. The Detroit product is motoring along in the circle this season, including a dominant 21 wins on 31 draws versus the Wings.  Stathakis is now 4th in the NLL with a 62% win rate.

• Bal Continues to Bounce: Forward Keegan Bal posted eight points (two goals and six assists) to now lead the team with 15 goals and 15 assists for 30 points through the first third of the season. 
• Last season Bal set career highs with 49 goals and 104 points. In his last two games versus the Wings, Bal has scored 10 goals and added 11 helpers for 21 points.  
• The two teams will play again this season on April 19, the final game of the regular season.Bal also passed Logan Schuss and Gary Rosyski for the 2nd most most assists in Vancouver team history.
  – KEEGAN BAL 282
  – Gary Rosyski 280
  – Logan Schuss   278
  Bal trails only Rhys Duch in assists in Vancouver franchise history.  ‘Dutchie’ handed out 523 helpers in his Stealth career.

• Grant Gallops Again: Owen Grant’s impressive season continues to shine. Grant had two more goals in the Philly game, and now has nine on the season.  
• His fourteen points leads the next NLL defender by five points…that defender is his teammate Reid Bowering, who has five goals and four assists for nine points.

• Beers on the Board: Matt Beers scored his first goal of the season, the longtime Warrior d-man now has 30 career goals in his stellar career. 
• Beers is Vancouver’s all time leader in loose balls (952), Caused Turnovers (185) and penalty minutes (576).