When it mattered most, the Coquitlam Jr. Adanacs came through most.
Down 4-2 after the first period, the Jr. A's rallied to out-score the host Warriors 9-4 in the second and then pumped in the game's final three goals in the third on way to a 15-11 triumph Wednesday over the defending national champions in Whitby, Ont.
The victory advanced the Jr. A's into the best-of-three Minto Cup Jr. A final series starting today (Friday) versus the Ontario champs, the Orangeville Northmen. Game 2 is set for Saturday while Game 3, if needed, will go Sunday.
"We played quite well in the first period... there were a couple strange bounces and we were down a couple goals," Jr. A's head coach Neil Dinsdale told The Tri-City News on the phone Thursday from Whitby. "All we talked about [during the intermission] was to come out and play with more passion, and they [A's players] did. We played well the whole game, I thought."
It was a total turnaround from Tuesday, when the Jr. A's sat out five regulars and fell 17-8 to the same Whitby crew in a mean-little contest to conclude round-robin play. The Northmen had already advanced to the final with a 3-0 record, while the 0-3 Calgary Mountaineers were bounced from playoff contention.
Dinsdale said his players have to be at the top of their game to knock off the heralded Northmen.
"They're a good team, a lot like Whitby," he said. "They have a high lacrosse IQ and good goaltending. There's really not one or two things you do to beat certain teams, it's the little things that are important. One of those is ball possession. The longer you have the ball, the longer you make their defence work and [try to] tire them out."
Dinsdale added getting the jump in the first game of the series today would be nice, but he noted last year's Jr. Adanacs won the opener before dropping the next two games to Whitby and lost the Minto final in Okotoks, Alta. Coquitlam won the Minto Cup as tournament hosts in 2010.
"It's important [to win the first game] although the winner still has a long way to go," Dinsdale noted.
On Wednesday, Wesley Berg rallied the Jr. A's with four goals and two assists, while Reid Reinholdt was the team's top point producer with two tallies and five helpers. Vincent Ricci netted three goals, with Matthew Dinsdale and Robert Church also supplying a pair apiece. Jeff Cornwall and Ben McIntosh rounded out the Coquitlam scoring cast. Jr. A's goalie Davide DiRuscio, who was a healthy scratch Tuesday when back-up Riley Camazzola took over, was steady in stopping 43 shots.
