Alex Buque, who's one of nine newcomers on the club's 21-man roster, stopped 45 shots in the Vancouver net in an 8-7 comeback win over the host San Diego Seals
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While it’s been easy to cite all the new 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 Warrior left-hander who sat second in the league in scoring when the loop shut down in March, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, had five goals and one assist in Vancouver’s 8-7 come-from-behind win over the 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 an abbreviated schedule in a bubble last spring but that never materialized.
Jones, who’s one of just 12 returnees on Vancouver’s 21-man active roster, led the Warriors to overcome a 6-3 deficit. Rookie Adam Charalambides bagged the winner with 3:04 remaining, rifling a shot over stick side on San Diego netminder Frank Scigliano.
San Diego’s Wes Berg got off a diving shot with 3.9 seconds left on the clock that Warriors netminder Alex Buque seemed to get his left foot on before it ricochetted off the far post and into the corner.
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Buque, one of those Vancouver newcomers, finished with 46 saves. Marty Dinsdale and Keegan Bal both have one goal and three assists in the winning effort.
Dane Dobbie had one goal and four assists for San Diego. Scigliano made 30 saves.
The Warriors, who have made the playoffs just once in their past seven seasons, travel to Fort Worth next Friday to face the expansion Panther City Lacrosse Club in their home opener. Vancouver’s home opener is Dec. 17, when the Saskatchewan Rush provide the opposition at Rogers Arena.
Jones had 28 goals and 74 points in 13 games with Vancouver in 2019-20. The team’s final five regular season games were cancelled. They finished 4-9.
Mitch Jones bags five goals, leads Vancouver Warriors to season-opening victory - The Province
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