They may not have taken the easy road to get there but the Coquitlam Adanacs have found their way back to the top of the B.C. Junior Lacrosse League.
The Adanacs outlasted the New Westminster Salmonbellies 15-11 Sunday night to win the fifth and deciding game in the B.C. final. The Jr. A's jumped out to a 6-2 lead after the first period in Coquitlam before New West fought back to tie it 8-8 heading into the third.
"We got a big lead in the first and hit a bit of a blip in the second," said head coach Neil Doddridge. "Then we grabbed the momentum back right at the start of the third and dominated the rest of the period."
Steven Neufeld and Tyler Garrison each supplied hat tricks, with Reid Reinholdt chipping in two goals and five assists. Michael Messenger, Jordan Gilles, Andy Taylor, Spencer Stevens, Vincent Ricci, Taylor Stuart and Matt Delmonico all provided singles. Davide DiRuscio and Peter Dubenski split the duties in the Coquitlam net, as they have done for most of the series.
The Adanacs won the first two games of the series before the Salmonbellies clawed their way back, pulling even with a 9-6 win Friday in New West.
Neufeld and Chase McIntyre each scored a pair in Friday's loss, with Reinholdt and Jean-Luc Chetner also finding the net. But Doddridge said it was the defence that was the difference in the series.
"Our defence started to dominate their offensive players and that's what it takes. When your defence is starting to dominate at that end of the floor it empowers everybody else to do well," he said.
The series win was a costly one for the Adanacs, who will be without sniper Wesley Berg for the Minto Cup. Berg broke a bone in his foot during Wednesday's Game 3 loss.
"He's our machine on offence. He's the top offensive player in Canadian Junior Lacrosse and we're going to miss him," said Doddridge. "He's our leader but every team has to go through adversity. I think championship teams have to go through those tough stretches."
Berg racked up 12 goals and 16 assists in six playoff games this year, finishing behind only teammate Neufeld (14 goals and 15 assists in eight games) in the league playoff scoring race.
The Adanacs now head off to their fifth straight Minto Cup appearance, facing off against the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League champion Okotoks Raiders Saturday night (8:00) at Queen's Park Arena. The host Salmonbellies open the tournament Saturday against the Ontario champ Whitby Warriors.
"Our team's built for series play - we can wear teams down - so these one-off games can be a bit of a challenge," said Doddridge, adding that being B.C. champion will allow Coquitlam to play in the late game during the round robin, something he sees as an advantage.
