For the last three seasons, other B.C. Junior 'A' lacrosse league teams have measured themselves against the mighty Coquitlam Jr. Adanacs.
On Wednesday, the Langley Jr. Thunder did it literally.
Jr. A's starting goalie David DiRuscio and his back-up, Michael Pecchia, were both ejected late in the second period for wearing over-sized equipment, allowing Langley to race back and out-score Coquitlam 8-3 in the third period on way to 12-11 victory at Poirier Sports Complex.
The loss dropped the Jr. A's to 6-1 on the season, while the Jr. Thunder improved to 3-4.
"Our goalies' equipment is no bigger than anybody else's," said Jr. A's head coach Neil Dinsdale. "It was certainly news to both of them [that it was illegal]."
The Jr. A's darted to a 5-0 first-period lead and were up comfortably at the time of Ontario-product DiRuscio's and Pecchia's ejections, forcing Intermediate call-up Conner Stroup to tend net the final 25 minutes of the game. Rattled by the rulings, the Jr. A's simply collapsed in front of their young stopper, Dinsdale said.
"I think they were trying to do too much individually and not doing it together as a team," Dinsdale said. "It wasn't for lack of trying... we just came apart on the defensive end."
Just to make a point, Dinsdale requested an equipment check on Thunder goalie Keenan Lambright with just over a minute remaining and he, too, was deemed illegal and removed from the game. It wasn't enough, however, to help the Jr. A's net the equalizer.
"I've never requested an equipment check on a goalie in my life, but they did it to us so I did it back," Dinsdale said. "It doesn't matter now. We'll just deal with it and move on."
Matt Symes, Vincent Ricci and Cole Shafer pumped in three goals apiece for Coquitlam, with Shafter adding five assists. Before leaving the game with an injury, Jr. A's leading scorer Matthew Dinsdale also tallied, as did Andy Taylor. Michael Messenger contributed four assists in defeat.
Like Shafer, the Jr. Thunder's Brandon Bull scored three times and added five helpers.
The Jr. A's host the 0-7 Nanaimo Jr. Timbermen on Sunday at Poirier, 5 p.m.
Meanwhile, the New Westminster Jr. Salmonbellies crept closer in the eight-team standings to the Jr. A's via a 12-7 win Tuesday over the PoCo Saints at Queen's Park Arena.
The Jr. 'Bellies upped their record to 5-1, while the Saints slipped to 3-4.
Nash Harrison and Garrett Chan bagged three and two goals respectively for the Saints, who got singles from Brock Whiteley and Matt Delmonico.
