When it comes to the National Lacrosse League, one never wants to get left too far behind early in a season.
The Vancouver Stealth are in an interesting position, down 0-2 to start the campaign with a date with the 1-1 New England Black Wolves tonight at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, sa国际传媒icut.
鈥淚t鈥檚 such a tight league. It鈥檚 one of those things where on any given night anybody can beat anybody,鈥� said Stealth forward and Victoria Shamrocks captain Corey Small. 鈥淚 know we鈥檙e down to an 0-2 start, but there鈥檚 no reason to press the panic button yet.
鈥淥bviously, they were two tough losses against conference teams, but we鈥檙e looking to rebound. The goal is to win the season series. We鈥檝e set ourselves back against them, but for the most part I think we鈥檙e a team that can adjust and rebound and get better moving forward.鈥�
The Stealth roster also includes fellow Shamrocks Rhys Duch and Evan Messenger, while Jon Harnett is on the injured reserve list and Tyler Hass was placed on the hold out list. Six-foot-10 defender Tyson Roe, of Duncan, is on the practice roster.
Vancouver opened with a 15-8 loss to the Colorado Mammoth at home in Langley before dropping a 15-12 setback in Calgary against a Roughnecks team which features former or current Shamrocks, Dan MacRae, Tyler Burton and Greg Harnett. Current Shamrock Chris Wardle had four goals and an assist for the Mammoth in the Colorado win.
鈥淲hen it鈥檚 all said and done, the playoffs are the main goal,鈥� added Small, who is still looking for his first goal of the season to go with his seven assists. He is coming off a spectacular season with the Stealth last year where he totaled 46 goals and 65 assists in 18 games.
鈥淟ast year we got in [the playoffs] with a .500 record, so that鈥檚 a testament to how tight everything is,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got ourselves in a little bit of a hole, but a .500 record has got you in before and I don鈥檛 think we鈥檙e too far off. Obviously, we have to string together some wins here, but the playoffs are the goal and the next goal is a home playoff date.鈥�
Duch, known as one of the more lethal snipers in the NLL, has just one goal and four assists in the two games, while the young Messenger has a goal and a helper.
鈥淣o excuses, we didn鈥檛 come out to play that first game,鈥� said Small. 鈥淚 thought we played well in Calgary, but penalties cost us and myself, and Rhys, didn鈥檛 have our best games. For our team to be successful we have to play well, so we鈥檙e looking to rebound from those two.
鈥淚 wish I had an answer for the no goals,鈥� added Small. 鈥淚鈥檝e looked at some of the film and the shooting charts, trying to come up for an answer for myself. The best thing I can think of is maybe just getting myself to a better scoring angle or prime shooting area on the floor.
鈥淚 may be settling for the outside a little too much and I need to think about getting inside a little more. I鈥檓 just excited for another opportunity to break that zero against New England.鈥�
The Black Wolves have Victoria native Aaron Bold as their starting goaltender.
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