Warriors Show Grit in 15-13 Victory over Swarm on College Night

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NLL Vancouver Warriors

Warriors Show Grit in 15-13 Victory over Swarm on College Night

March 23, 2025 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Vancouver Warriors News Release


The Vancouver Warriors battled their way to a hard-fought 15-13 win over the Georgia Swarm at Rogers Arena, showing their composure in the final minutes to secure the win.

Despite a late push from Georgia, capped by a goal from Lyle Thompson that cut the deficit to one goal with 2:07 remaining, Vancouver held strong and sealed the game with an empty netter.

Warriors' General Manager and Head Coach Curt Malawsky liked the resiliency of his team in the back half of the contest.

He mentioned the importance of possession when the game is close, pointing to faceoff specialist Alec Stathakis who went 23 for 32 from the circle and picked up 17 loose balls.

"He's a gamer, he's a competitor, every game we talk about it. I walked in the room today and the boys were jumping on Stath because they realize how big of a competitor is; they realize how big of a piece he is to our puzzle," Malawsky said.

"Not only does he win the draw, he's scrapping in there, and he doesn't turn it over. He's very, very athletic, and he runs himself out of trouble, and if there's going to be a double team, he'll run through it, he doesn't avoid it. He's been a massive part of this group."

Ryan Martel scored four goals in the win and got the game ball. Every goal was hard-earned as the 5-foot-10 lefty forward was muscling around the net and in the corners all night. With the Warriors up by one, Martel came out of a loose ball battle victorious against a player twice his size for Owen Grant to score the empty netter.

"Marty's a competitor [and] Marty's a guy that that we need to score. We need his contribution. We had it last year [and] we missed it early in the season. Now it's back. [He's a] heart and soul type guy, and if you look around our room, that's what we kind of built is guys that really want to put their best effort for the team and the front of the jersey and he's no different. I think with his size and his stature, and when he gets in there and gets dirty, I think the guys can step up and appreciate that," Malawsky said.

The Aldergrove native helped get the Warriors out to a lead in the first half, scoring three goals in Vancouver's five-goal run.

Marty is finding his consistency down the stretch, and he's focused on helping his team establish early leads.

"I've had a season of up and downs and gripping the stick too tight, and I think I just had a lot of fun out there tonight. I had a lot of fans here, friends and family. I just had fun, and it worked out," Martel said.

Martel's work around the crease was drawing visible frustration from Georgia goaltender Brett Dobson, who delivered a blow to Marty's head after his fourth goal that resulted in a penalty for Georgia.

"I love that stuff when I'm getting in goalies heads, that's one of my favorite things of the game, so that that doesn't bother me," Martel said.

The Warriors' power play was humming, going five for five in the first half and five of six throughout the game while they were strong the penalty kill, going four of nine.

"It's [about] goaltending and special teams when you start pushing towards the playoffs and that's real big down the stretch. For us to go five for six, I think it was huge. We had some timely goals on it, and it also makes the other teams play a little bit more cautious, and gives our guys more opportunity, because they don't want to go the penalty box as our power play is lethal," Malawsky said.

Christian Del Bianco was steadfast in net in his second game with the Warriors, turning aside 43 of 56 shots he faced.

Following a nine-point performance last week, Keegan Bal had 12 points - a hat trick and nine assists, while Marcus Klarich also had a hatty and two assists. Kevin Crowley had two goals and four assists, Owen Grant had two goals and Riley Loewen chipped in a single for Vancouver.

Bal did it all! 3 goals, 9 assists, and a statement win over Georgia.

Malawsky had praise for his offensive group, battling their way to the middle of the floor all night.

"I'm super proud of the guys. They know now, what it takes to be successful in this league is to get right down Main Street and they're doing it," Malawsky said.

The Warriors head to Buffalo next week for a matchup with the two-time defending NLL Cup champion Bandits on Saturday, March 29th. Opening faceoff at Keybank Center will be at 4:30 p.m. PT.

For season tickets, group tickets, premium options, and all ticketing options, please go to vancouverwarriors.com for all the details.

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