Alex Buque, who is one of nine newcomers on the club’s 21-man roster, stopped 45 shots at Vancouver’s net in an 8-7 comeback over host San Diego Seals.
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While it has been easy to cite all the news with the Vancouver Warriors, it was part of the old guard that led the team to victory on Friday to open the National Lacrosse League season.
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Mitch Jones, the third-year left-hander Warrior who sat second in the league in scoring when the circuit was closed in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, had five goals and an 8-7 finish assist from Vancouver. win from behind over host San Diego Seals on Friday to kick off the 2021-22 campaign.
It was Vancouver’s first game in 637 days. The league had talked about playing a shortened schedule in a bubble last spring, but that never materialized.
Jones, who is one of 12 returnees on Vancouver’s active 21-man roster, led the Warriors to overcome a 6-3 deficit. Rookie Adam Charalambides took the winner with 3:04 remaining, landing a shot over the side of the stick on San Diego goalkeeper Frank Scigliano.
San Diego’s Wes Berg took a dive with 3.9 seconds left on the clock that Warriors goalkeeper Alex Buque appeared to put his left foot before it bounced off the far post and into the corner.
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Ship, one of those newcomers to Vancouver, finished with 46 saves. Marty Dinsdale and Keegan Bal have one goal and three assists in the winning effort.
Dane Dobbie scored one goal and four assists for San Diego. Scigliano made 30 stops.
The Warriors, who have made the playoffs only once in their past seven seasons, will travel to Fort Worth next Friday to face the expansion Panther City Lacrosse Club in their first home game. Vancouver’s first home game is on December 17, when Saskatchewan Rush will provide the opposition at Rogers Arena.
Jones scored 28 goals and 74 points in 13 games for Vancouver in 2019-20. The last five games of the team’s regular season were canceled. They finished 4-9.
Reference-theprovince.com