Before the Coquitlam Jr. Adanacs punch their tickets to Whitby, Ont., they have to squeeze past Delta first.
That's exactly what the Jr. A's have done the last two games, trimming the host Islanders 7-6 Wednesday at Sungod Arena after edging them 8-7 in overtime Monday at Poirier Sports Complex to go up 3-1 in the best-of-seven B.C. Junior 'A' lacrosse league playoff final.
The Jr. A's had a chance to wrap up the series last night (Thursday) back at Poirier and move on to their fourth straight Minto Cup national championship tournament, hosted this year by the defending-champion Whitby Warriors.
"We haven't won anything yet," cautioned Jr. A's head coach Neil Dinsdale, heading into Game 5. "There are guys on the other end of the floor who may be playing their last junior game, or maybe even their last lacrosse game ever. They're going to come out ready to play and we have to do the same."
After leading Wednesday 3-0 after the first period and 4-1 early in the second, the Jr. A's watched as the Islanders clawed back in it with the game's next four goals to take a 5-4 lead 1:15 into the third.
After Coquitlam's Ben McIntosh and Delta's Eli McLaughlin swapped goals, the Jr. A's evened the count 6-6 on Vincent Ricci's powerplay marker at the 12:36 mark. Sixty-five seconds later and with fewer than seven minutes remaining, Wesley Berg bagged what proved to be the winning tally.
"I think experience is a big part of it," said Dinsdale, whose Jr. A's are the three-time defending B.C. playoff champs. "They've played at this level a long time. They've been here a lot and know what to do in these situations."
Robert Church zipped in two goals to pace the Jr. A's, whose other marksmen were Berg, Ricci, Ben McIntosh, Andy Taylor and Challen Rogers. Reid Reinholdt supplied four assists for the victors.
On Monday, Church's third goal of the game four minutes into overtime boosted the Jr. A's to another one-goal win.
The Jr. A's led 4-2 and 6-4 after the first and second periods, then went up 7-5 before the Islanders rallied for three goals in the final five minutes to force extra time.
McIntosh, Berg, Reinholdt, Ricci and Tyler Garrison also struck net for Coquitlam, who out-shot the Islanders 58-42 and got a 35-save effort from Davide DiRuscio.
Ricci added four assists, while Church contributed three helpers.
