In their final regular season home game, the Vancouver Warriors (7-9) take on the New York Riptide (8-8) on Fan Appreciation Night Saturday, April 13th at Rogers Arena in a game that will have massive playoff implications for both teams.
The Warriors are on a four-game winning streak and have won five of their last six games. In their last game against Halifax, Vancouver overcame a 7-2 deficit in the second quarter to beat the Thunderbirds 15-13.
There were numerous contributions up and down the lineup from Vancouver, Keegan Bal leading the charge with seven points (five goals, two assists). Ryan Martel had five points (4G, 1A) and the Warriors got singles from Adam Charalambides, Kyle Killen, Owen Grant, Riley Loewen, Kevin Crowley and Steph Charbonneau.
The Warriors slowly chipped away at the Thunderbirds’ lead and gradually wore down their defence, outscoring them 10-5 in the second half.
Bal has scored 17 goals in the last three games, including an eight-goal, 13-point performance against Philadelphia in Week 17. He’s used to facing tough defenses on a nightly basis and has been scoring some impressive goals in spite of it.
Bal has 91 points this season (42-49-91), Charalambides has 85 (32G, 53A) and Ryan Martel has 27 goals and 33 assists, good for 60 points this season.
Defensively, Reid Bowering has collected 98 loose balls so far this season with Warriors’ rookies Owen Grant and Brayden Laity picking up 92 and 88 respectively. Ryan Dilks leads the league with 40 forced turnovers and four shorthanded assists. Grant is the league leader in shorthanded goals with four.
Goaltender Aden Walsh has backstopped the Warriors over their last seven games, posting a 5-2 record and even notched a couple of assists against Halifax. The 23-year-old Walsh has a .766 save percentage this year.
It will be a battle between the young goaltenders this weekend as Walsh and the Warriors face off against 24-year-old Riptide netminder Cameron Dunkerley. Dunkerley turned aside 49 of 58 shots he faced in last game and is averaging a .760 save percentage and now has a 12.24 goals against average.
The Warriors power play is currently running at a 42% success rate, while the Riptide are converting on the man-advantage at 63%, best in the NLL. Conversely, Vancouver’s tough defensive core has a penalty kill success rate of 62%, 3rd in the league, while New York’s PK is working at a 46% clip. The Warriors’ face off percentage is lower, 44%, compared to the Riptide’s 52%.
In the March to May, the Warriors are nipping at the heels of the eighth and final spot to make it into the playoffs. The New York Riptide are currently eighth in the NLL standings and had a big win last week against the Rochester Nighthawks.
The Riptide have won two in a row and beat the Nighthawks 14-9 in Week 19. New York was led by forward Jeff Teat with nine points (4G, 5A). Stephen Keogh had five points, scoring all three of his goals in the third quarter. New York also got scoring from forward Larson Sundown, Kevin Brownell, and Reilly O’Connor, transitions Connor Kearnan, Mitch Wilde, and defenceman Damon Edwards.
Teat leads New York with 117 points (51 goals, 66 assists), Kearnan has 70 points (23-47-70) and O’Connor has 15 goals and 48 assists for 63 points.
Defensively, the Riptide have three players in triple digits for loose balls – Teat (101), Brent Noseworthy and Jay Thorimbert with 100 each.
Come cheer on the Warriors during Fan Appreciation Night as they make a push for the playoffs. Faceoff is at 7 p.m. PT.
