The Vancouver Warriors (4-5) are heading south to take on the Las Vegas Desert Dogs (2-6) on Friday at Penta Field. Both teams head into this contest hungry, looking to bounce back from losses.
Last week, the Calgary Roughnecks (5-3) topped the Warriors in a game where the black and gold showed a lot of heart and resilience. The Warriors opened the scoring with goals from Riley Loewen and Kevin Crowley, but the momentum shifted when the Roughnecks scored five unanswered goals.
In the following quarter, the Roughnecks scored another four consecutive goals, but that didn’t shake the Warriors’ confidence. Adam Charalambides (2G, 4A), Riley Loewen (3G, 2A), Kevin Crowley (2G, 4A), and Keegan Bal (2G, 5A) all joined the points party to help erase a six-goal deficit to tie the game in the third quarter.
Unfortunately, a shutout from the Roughnecks in the final frame handed the Warriors a loss on home turf. Warriors’ General Manager and Head Coach Curt Malawsky said while he was proud of how the team rallied back after the deficit, the team needs to learn to stack shifts and goals to win games.
The Las Vegas Desert Dogs return from a bye week, but they’re also looking to shake off a narrow 16-14 loss to the Georgia Swarm.
The Dogs came up short in key areas, losing the loose ball battle, scooping up 78 over 60 minutes, compared to 48 from the Dogs. The Swarm controlled the faceoff circle, doubling the Dogs’ wins with 22. Offensively, the Swarm applied more pressure, firing 18 more shots on net.
Despite the loss, Jack Hannah of the Dogs delivered as expected, finding the net three times and assisting five other goals. Jackson Webster (3G, 3A), Kyle Killen (2G, 4A) and Jonathon Donville (2G, 3A) also contributed to the offensive success.
Throughout the season, Hannah has been a standout for the Dogs, leading the team in points (43), goals (14), shots on goal (79), power play points (13), and power play assists (10). The 25-year-old forward ranked 34th in the NLL last season with 76 points, but this year he has surged up the standings, now sitting at 19th in points. At his current pace, Hannah is on track to eclipse 97 points in his third season in the NLL.
A total of 23 players from both the Warriors and the Desert Dogs are from B.C., making Friday’s game a true showcase of the province’s lacrosse talent.
From the Dogs, netminder Justin Geddie hails from Victoria, alongside transition player Nick Preston and forward Marshal King. Casey Jackson — also a Victoria native — previously played for Vancouver in his rookie season, appearing in four games and recording ten points.
Drew Belgrave and Brandon Goodwin of New Westminster, Josh Jackson of Coquitlam, and Dylan Hutchison of Surrey round out the Dogs’ players with local ties.
Friday will be the only time these two teams meet in the regular season. Historically, Vancouver and Las Vegas have played each other a total of five times, four of those games going in Vancouver’s favour. The last time they battled was on March 30, 2024, where the Warriors topped Vegas 12-9. In that game, Bal found the back of the net four times, while Aden Walsh turned aside 45 shots, posting an impressive .833 save percentage.
The Valentines Day showdown takes place Friday at 7:30 p.m. PST, and you can watch the action on NLL+ and TSN+.
