The Vancouver Warriors checked a box in their March to May, clinching a playoff spot as they beat the Ottawa Black Bears 10-8 before over 10,000 excited spectators at Rogers Arena.
With the win, the Warriors took the season series against the Black Bears, besting them 12-8 in Ottawa at the end of January.
The Warriors have worked tirelessly this season, and Head Coach and GM Curt Malawsky said the last 12 games in 11 weeks have been a grind, but the hard work has paid off in securing a playoff berth.
“It means the world to us. We start early November, and that's your first goal is to make the playoffs and to be able to clinch at home in front of our fans. We hadn't played great this season (at Rogers Arena), now we're 4-3 at home, and we want to just keep it rolling,” Malawsky said.
“I’m very grateful to be part of this organization and super proud of our guys in that room. It's not an easy task to do what we've been doing, night in and night out, and they lay it on the line. They sacrifice for each other, and we continue to build that trust. So, tonight was a huge win for our organization and a massive win for our guys in that room.”
The Warriors’ veteran defence was as stingy as ever, and also scored in transition, as goaltender Christian Del Bianco stopped 42 of 50 shots he faced. Delbs also had two assists on the evening, both of them in the last three minutes of the contest on Keegan Bal’s go-ahead goal and Curtis Dickson’s insurance goal.
The offence battled, chipping away in a game where Ottawa kept it close, and the biggest lead the Warriors held was three goals. They were resilient and stayed even keeled through the ebbs and flows of the game.
Faceoff specialist Max Adler went 15-of-23 on the draw.
“I think it was really big tonight to get that win in a tight game when they kept on coming back, and they wouldn't go away,” Malawsky said. "We started the third quarter really well, and they battled back, but we just stuck with it and got one late. It's something that you build on, because that's the way the playoffs are. Very rarely do you see in the playoffs that a team mops somebody up in a game, it's always tight, especially the first round of playoffs.”
Vancouver’s offence was led by Keegan Bal, who got the game ball by tallying eight points (3G, 5A). He now has 107 points on the season, just five shy of his career-high 112 points with three regular-season games to go.
"He's just a special, special player,” Malawsky said. “When I first got here, he could hit his shots, and he's got great feet, but getting to the middle of the floor now, he's fearless. He goes right down the pipe, knows he’s going to get hit, and he leads by example. He scored some really big goals for this club."
Adam Charalambides recorded four points with a hat trick and an assist, Curtis Dickson had two goals, and Jesse King chipped in three assists. Vancouver also had singles from Marcus Klarich and Jeff Cornwall.
With the game tied 4-4 at halftime, the Warriors had three power plays at the beginning of the third quarter. Charalambides scored on a five-on-three advantage, and Dickson scored again right away on the power play to give Vancouver some separation, which gave the group some momentum. The Warriors went 2-for-4 on the man advantage throughout the contest.
Bal said the team treated the matchup like a playoff game, and their preparation and veteran leadership gave the group confidence down the stretch.
“I’m proud of our team for staying super resilient. We were positive on the bench the entire time. They tied up a few times in the fourth quarter, and it was never angst or a feeling of, ‘we might not get it done,’” Bal said.
Del Bianco made big stops throughout the game, including shutting the door on a penalty shot in the fourth quarter, which made the crowd go wild.
“He’s the best goalie in the world,” Bal said. “I have the privilege to shoot on him every week. I’ve been doing that for a long time. We work on shootouts quite a bit, so I knew he was going to stop it.”
The forward group has been firing on all cylinders, and they have confidence in themselves and each other that they’re going to hit the next shot.
"The chemistry has been growing ever since the start of the year, and it's been a game-by-game growth thing,” Charalambides said. “It's really a paradox that you get closer with your team towards the end of the season, because it gets close to the end, but it's just fun. We're all playing for each other. There's a lot of smiles when we do have success. But then even in those frustrating moments, there's a lot of support and a lot of picking up the guy next to you.”
Already in a playoff mindset, Charalambides said the relentlessness in a close game is experience they’ll be able to pull from in the postseason.
“Just to be process-focused,” Bides said. “We want to play five minutes at a time, invest in every shift, invest in the grind, and not get frustrated when we don't see the results. That chopping-down- the-tree attitude – you might not knock it down with the first 10 swings, but 11, 12, and 13 are going to really do some damage.”
With the win, the Warriors improve to 11-4 on the season, tying their season-best 11 wins from last season. The Warriors are now tied for first place overall in the National Lacrosse League standings.
Vancouver has a bye week next week, then heads to KeyBank Center Saturday, April 4th, before returning to Rogers Arena for Rodeo Night, Friday, April 10th, to face the Halifax Thunderbirds at 6:00 p.m. PT.
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