Warriors Ready for Week 3 Matchup against Desert Dogs
NLL Vancouver Warriors

Warriors Ready for Week 3 Matchup against Desert Dogs

Published on December 12, 2025 under National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Vancouver Warriors News Release


For Week 3 of NLL action, the Vancouver Warriors faceoff against the Las Vegas Desert Dogs on Saturday, hosting their First Nations Night at Rogers Arena.

This is the second game for the Warriors this season and the first game for the Desert Dogs.

Vancouver had a hard-fought battle against Colorado in Week 1, with the Mammoth edging the Warriors 10-7. The Warriors had a strong showing from their special teams' units, going four-for-eight on the power play and five-for-seven on the penalty kill.

Keegan Bal led the way for the Warriors and had a hand in every goal, scoring one of his own and adding six assists. Jesse King had four points (1G, 3A), Adam Charalambides and Curtis Dickson notched two goals and an assist each, and Ryan Sheridan had one goal and one assist.

Bal leads the league in assists and is fifth in the league for points through the first two weeks.

In addition to strong play on the penalty kill, the Warriors' defensive group continues to be a steady presence this season, picking up 58 loose balls, 13 caused turnovers, and goaltender Christian Del Bianco stopping 36 of 46 shots he faced.

Warriors' Head Coach and GM Curt Malawsky liked the way the team started the game and especially how they came out firing to start the third quarter, battling to bring the game within one goal in the fourth quarter. Starting on time will be important against the Desert Dogs and Malawsky wants his team to stick to their disciplined brand of lacrosse.

The Warriors and Desert Dogs met only once last season, and Vancouver took the game 12-8 in Las Vegas. The Dogs are debuting a whole new look this season, which includes more offensive firepower.

The team from Sin City comes into the contest with their two leading scorers from last season, plus major additions to their forward group. Forwards Jonathan Donville and Jack Hannah are back in the black and white; Donville led Las Vegas with 84 points (21G, 63A), and Hannah contributed 82 points (36G, 46A) last season.

The Desert Dogs have added Delta native and former Warrior Mitch Jones who tallied 110 points (31G, 79A) in Philadelphia last season, and Vancouver product, Chase Fraser who chipped in 62 points (34G, 28A) and Chris Cloutier with 47 points (22G, 25A) for the three-time NLL champions Buffalo Bandits last season.

There's several other familiar faces from the Lower Mainland to watch for on the Desert Dogs roster:

Defencemen Drew Belgrave, Tony Malcom, and Brandon Goodwin all hailing from New Westminster. Rhys Blake (Port Moody), Nick Preston (Victoria), Josh Jackson (Coquitlam), former Warriors forward Kyle Killen, and faceoff man and former Vancouver Warrior, Tyrell Hamer-Jackson.

Goaltenders Alex Buque (also a former Vancouver player) is also from New West and rookie Caleb Khan is a Langley local.

The Warriors are celebrating First Nations Night on Saturday and will have their inaugural Teddy Bear Toss after the first Warriors' goal of the third quarter.

Faceoff is on Saturday, December 13th at 7:00 p.m. and you can catch all the action on TSN, TSN+, and NLL+.

Check out the Vancouver Warriors Statistics

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National Lacrosse League Stories from December 12, 2025


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