The Vancouver Warriors closed out their long National Lacrosse League season on Saturday, April 30th against the number one team in their division, the San Diego Seals. The Warriors are missing the playoffs for the sixth time in seven seasons, which sounds a lot like the Vancouver Canucks, who play in the same building and have also only made the playoffs once in the past seven seasons.
But on the contrary, the Warriors started the season well, winning five of their first eight games, but only snagged one more win the rest of the season after losing eight of their last nine games. Vancouver ended the season in last place in the West conference, with a 6-12 record for the 2021-22 year.
The Vancouver Warriors were eliminated from playoff contention after their game on April 16th against the Calgary Roughnecks, losing 15-13 at home at Rogers Arena. This was a theme all year long for the team, as many of their games were lost by only a goal or two, but it’s the wins that truly matter at the end season.
There are some things to build off from this season going into the 2022-23 season for the Warriors, as they have a lot of young players who are developing to be great in the future. One of those players is rookie of the year candidate Reid Bowering.
Bowering is in good company
Reid Bowering has tied Brodie Merrill for the single-season loose ball recoveries by a rookie record. Congratulations, @ReidBowering14! pic.twitter.com/7Ov5AD83mL
— NLL (@NLL) May 4, 2022
The 23-year-old defender is a Coquitlam native and was the second overall pick in the 2020 NLL draft. Bowering topped off his season by tying Brodie Merrell’s record with 214 loose ball recoveries by a rookie in a single season.
Keegan Bal was also a factor for the team, as the right-handed forward is tied for sixth in the league in scoring with Josh Byrne with 99 points, just one point shy of 100 points on the season. Bal has proven to be a scoring threat with 44 goals in 17 games.
Sticks up for everyone who followed along this season! 🥍💪 pic.twitter.com/CdCES5fPr9
— Vancouver Warriors (@VanWarriors) May 1, 2022
Warriors GM Dan Richardson said at the end of the season that. “We need to look at what we have here. We need to start setting ourselves up for next season.” Vancouver will look for a fresh start as the 2022-23 season will begin in December.