The Coquitlam Adanacs will open the defence of their BC Junior A Lacrosse League championship Wednesday at Queen’s Park Arena when they face the New Westminster Salmonbellies in the first game of their best-of-seven league final.
The series is a rematch of last year’s championship, which was won by the Adanacs in five games.
The Adanacs earned their place in the final by dispatching the Victoria Shamrocks 10-4 on Saturday at the Poirier Sports and Leisure Complex to sweep their best-of-five semifinal in three straight games.
After ending the first period deadlocked 1-1 on goals by Victoria’s Zach Manns and Coquitlam’s Dennon Armstrong, the Shamrocks went ahead 2-1 early in the second when Ben Preston beat Adanacs keeper Christian Del Bianco.
But the Adanacs took control of the game by scoring four straight goals to jump ahead 5-2. Adam Fulton, Thomas Semple Reid Bowering and Armstrong — with his second of the game — all beat Victoria’s goalie, Cameron Dunkerley before Marshal King stopped the run to bring the visitors back to within a pair of goals.
Jalen Chaster scored on a set up from Del Bianco to make it 6-3 heading into the second intermission and Dylan Foulds netted another less than three minutes after the break to extend Coquitlams lead to 7-3.
Braylon Lamb scored the Shamrocks fourth goal before the hosts closed it out with three straight by Armstrong, Ethan Ticehurst and Graydon Bradley.
Armstrong added a pair of assists to his three goals to lead Coquitlam scorers while John Hofsetch pitched in with four assists. The Adanacs fired 47 shots at Victoria’s net, while Del Bianco faced 31.
In anticipation of their own run at a league title and berth in the Minto Cup national championship, the Salmonbellies bolstered their lineup heading down stretch of the regular season by adding offensive sparkplugs Ryan Jones from Delta, Nathaniel Kozevnikov and Dalton Lupul from Langley as well as Bobby Kidd III. They also acquired speedster Tanner Poole from Barrie.
The team will also benefit from the return of Tre LeClaire from Israel, where he played for the Canadian national team at the 2018 FIL World Men’s Lacrosse Championship.
“It’s always been the goal to get to a Minto Cup, but we’ve been running up against (Coquitlam) the last few years,” said Salmonbellies president Walt Weaver. “We’re only getting better with these players.”
After opening the final in New West. the series shifts to Coquitlam for games Friday and Sunday at 7:30 p.m. at the Poirier Sports and Leisure Centre.
— with a file from Dan Olson
Canada loses late at LAX worlds
The Adanacs will get an extra boost with the return of Ryland Rees, who also played at the 2018 FIL Men’s World Lacrosse Championships in Nentanya, Israel, where the Canadian national team’s defender was named to the All-World all-star team. He scored one goal and collected seven ground balls.
But it was a mixed honour for the young Port Coquitlam native who was acquired from the PoCo Saints in a trade on June 30. Canada lost Saturday’s championship final to the American team, 9-8, on a controversial last-second goal by Tom Schreiber of the U.S.
While the stadium clock said time had expired, the official game clock indicated Schreiber’s goal came with a second left.
“It was chaotic down there,” Canadian coach Randy Mearns said after the game.
Canada, which were the defending champions after they defeated the Americans in the 2014 final in Denver, Colo., led 4-2 after the first quarter and 6-4 at halftime, but a pair of unanswered goals by the U.S. in the third quarter got the teams back on even terms heading into the game’s final 20-minute period.
Port Coquitlam’s Curtis Dickson, who plays for the Maple Ridge Burrards of the Western Lacrosse Association, put Canada back in front, 7-6, early in the final quarter before Schreiber tied it again with his first goal of the game.
Canada went back in front, 8-7, when Mark Cockerton scored with just over five minutes left in regulation time. But Ryan Brown, of the U.S. tied it 1:14 later.
Dickson had three goals to lead all Canadian scorers. He was also named to the All-World team. Coquitlam’s Ben McIntosh had a pair of goals on three shots, while Wesley Berg was held off the scoresheet.
The next FIL Men’s World Lacrosse Championship, in 2022, will be played in Coquitlam.
Adanacs advance in Sr. LAX
The Juniors aren’t the only Adanacs’ team moving on in lacrosse playoffs.
The Senior B team will also begin their best-of-five West Coast Senior Lacrosse League semifinal series against the Ladner Pioneers Wednesday (tonight) in Ladner.
The Adanacs advanced by beating the New Westminster Capitals 9-8 on Sunday to take their best-of-three quarterfinal two games to one.
Tanner Fisher scored the winner with his second of his two goals in the game with four minutes left in regulation. He also added two assists.
Jaxon Lee scored three goals and Spencer Stevens and Brendan Shea also contributed four-point efforts.
The second game of the Adanacs’ playoff series against Ladner will be played Saturday at 8 p.m. at the Poirier Sports and Leisure Complex.
