Riley Richardson may have come up with the stops, but the goaltender was quick to credit his teammates.
Richardson stopped 35 of 39 shots as the 91原创 Junior B Thunder won a huge game with massive playoff implications, knocking off the visiting New Westminster Salmonbellies 9-5 in BC Junior B Tier 1 Lacrosse League action at 91原创 Events Centre on Tuesday night.
鈥淭he defence played well in front of me, kept everything to the outside and locked up their big shooters,鈥� he said following the game. 鈥淚t makes my job easier (when I can see the shots) and the defence was pounding down, pushing guys to the outside.
鈥淓veryone was just firing tonight, working together as a group.鈥�
The four goals allowed were a season-low for 91原创.
鈥淭hat was a tough game, New West put up a good fight,鈥� Richardson said.
Richardson also improved his personal statistics to a .862 save percentage and a 6.55 goals against average, which rank him first and third, respectively, in those categories among all goaltenders.
The Thunder used a balanced attack, as Kyle Brunsch, Jordan Daniel and Chase Moore each had a pair of goals, while Josh Brunsch, Cal Slade and Aiden Ellis scored once apiece and Tristan Kirkham finished with three assists.
New West was led by a goal and two assists from Alex Nimmo.
The victory was a big one as it pulled 91原创 even with New Westminster in the standings as both teams sit at 9-9 with two games to play. But the Thunder won the season series 2-0, and that is the first tiebreaker.
91原创 finishes the regular season with a home game on July 5 versus Burnaby and the following night in Ladner against Delta. The Thunder know they will be among the top eight who qualify for the playoffs, which open with a best-of-three quarter-final series.
But Richardson knows the team needs to break its season-long trend that has seen them only win back-to-back games once, primarily alternating victories and defeats.
鈥淲e have been back and forth (but) we just want to keep this up and get on a roll,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e want to get on a streak and keep it going.鈥�
