Coquitlam Adanacs have made the Western Lacrosse Association playoffs every year since 1997. The way things are going, 2011 may be the end of that handsome run.
The sagging Adanacs got out-scored 4-2 in the final nine minutes Saturday and dropped a crucial 13-11 contest to the Maple Ridge Burrards at the Poirier Sports and Leisure Complex.
The loss was the A's seventh straight and dropped them to 4-10-0 in the basement of the seven-team loop, while the Burrards moved into the fourth and final playoff spot at 7-9-0.
The A's are six points behind Ridge with four games remaining, starting tomorrow (Thursday) versus the first-place Salmonbellies in New Westminster.
Adanacs general manager Les Wingrove believes one victory could alter his team's fortunes and spur it on yet again to the post-season.
"I've been saying that for quite a few games now and but it just doesn't seem to want to come," Wingrove said. "It's not like we're playing badly. Lack of confidence has maybe set in a bit of late but I don't think we can look at our team and say we just don't have it this season.
"For some reason, we're falling a couple goals short all the time."
The Burrards led 4-3 after the first period and held a 9-7 advantage after the second. The A's Kevin Olson, with his game-high fourth goal, cut the margin to 9-8 six minutes into the third and Daryl Veltman knotted the count 9-9 at the 10:31 mark.
But 28 ticks later, Peter Tellis scored what proved the first of three straight Ridge goals in a two-minute span from which the A's failed to recover.
Dane Dobbie netted back-to-back goals to close the gap to 12-11 with more than four minutes remaining but Ridge's Riley Loewen tallied with 2:13 to go to close out the scoring and seal the Burrards' win.
After Olson's four markers, Dobbie was next on the A's with three and also had four assists. Veltman finished with a pair of tallies and dished out seven assists, while Cory Conway bagged a goal and six helpers. Spencer Martin also struck net for Coquitlam.
Former PoCo Saints Jr. 'A' standout Randy Daly netted a natural hattrick in the first period for the Burrards, who got three more goals from the ex-Coquitlam Jr. Adanac Loewen and a steady 35-save showing from goalie Chris Siedel.
After New West, the A's host the 5-7-2 Nanaimo Timbermen on Saturday, 7 p.m., before wrapping up the regular season with a home-and-home series versus the third-place Langley Thunder, including their finale July 30 in Coquitlam.
