Adjectives such as "devastating" and "disappointing" spilled off the tongues of the Coquitlam Jr. Adanacs on Monday, upon arriving home after stomaching sour defeat in their bid for a second straight Minto Cup national Jr. 'A' lacrosse championship.
"Determined" might be the best word to describe the winning Whitby Warriors.
After dropping Friday's first game of the best-of-three final 12-9 to the Jr. A's in Okotoks, Alta., the Warriors of Ontario rallied for a 5-4 victory Saturday and a series-clinching 12-7 triumph Sunday to claim their first Canadian crown since 1999.
"It's devastating... we're hurting as a team right now," said Jr. A's head coach Curt Malawsky. "We have a fair number of senior guys who were looking forward to going out on top and it didn't happen. It was a game of inches and their goalie [Zack Higgins] made some good saves. A goal here or there could have made the difference and we easily could have won."
Higgins was indeed outstanding down the stretch, blocking 42 shots in the deciding game -- one in which the Jr. A's got out-scored 4-0 in the third period.
"It's very disappointing," said Jr. A's general manager Ken Wood. "We played extremely well but Whitby matched our intensity the last two games. They changed their defence and closed up the middle... they took away all our scoring lanes and they got phenomenal goaltending."
Matthew Dinsdale staked the Jr. A's to 1-0 lead 23 seconds in Sunday but Whitby rattled off the game's next four goals. Coquitlam hung tough, with a Ben McIntosh marker shaving the Warriors' margin to 8-7 with just 13 seconds left in the second frame before what proved a disastrous final 20 minutes for the Jr. A's.
Coquitlam dominated the four-team tournament, which also featured the Edmonton Eclipse and the host Okotoks Raiders, up until Saturday. They racked up three straight round-robin victories, out-scoring their opponents 38-15, including a convincing 14-8 triumph Aug. 21 over Whitby, then peppered in six straight second period goals to beat the Warriors by three in the final's Game 1 Friday.
After that game, Warriors head coach Derek Keenan had some heated words for Malawsky, who he claimed was chirping at his players following the game and called it "bush." The comments made next-day news in The Calgary Herald, where Malawsky defended his actions, saying: "He [Keenan] can interpret that however he wants to interpret that... I was just sticking up for my players."
Some consider the war of words between the two bench bosses as the turning point in the series in Whitby's favour, although Keenan told The Tri-City News on Tuesday he didn't see it quite that way.
"The players play the game on the floor," Keenan said on the phone from Whitby. "The impact of coaching is very limited, especially in box lacrosse. Sure, there was some gamesmanship between Curt and me. He's a competitor and so am I. Our guys just went out the last two games, made some plays and got some timely goals."
The Jr. A's went through a tumultuous off-season, tussling with Coquitlam city officials over their practice floor time at the Poirier Sports and Leisure Complex -- where they captured their first-ever Minto last year -- which was being challenged by Coquitlam Minor Lacrosse. Wood and Jr. A's governor Rocky Zimmerman announced shortly after the team was for sale but an official buyer has yet to come into play.
When asked about the position of team ownership and Malawsky, Wood said frankly: "We just got back [from the Minto Cup]. Those questions will be answered at a later date."
RAG LINE: The Jr. A's Casey Jackson tied with Whitby's Mark Matthews for the tournament scoring lead, each with 30 points in six and seven games respectively. The six-foot-four Matthews toiled for Minto-champion Coquitlam last year.
