Just when the Coquitlam Adanacs appeared headed for the cliff, they spun around and cruised smack back into the Western Lacrosse Association playoff hunt.
Right now, Kevin Olson is the driver.
A trade-deadline acquisition earlier this month that saw holdout goalie Chris Levis set sail for Victoria, Olson peppered in four goals - giving him 11 in his last three outings -- as the A's prevailed 10-9 in overtime over the Nanaimo Timbermen in a crucial contest Saturday at the Poirier Sports and Leisure Complex.
The result moved the last-place A's within two points of the fourth and final playoff spot in the cramped seven-team loop, with two games remaining -- a home-and-home series with the third-place Thunder starting tonight (Wednesday) in Langley. The A's regular-season finale goes Saturday in Coquitlam, 7 p.m.
The win was the A's second straight after suffering through seven defeats in a row. On Thursday, they ended their losing slide by chopping down the first-place New Westminster Salmonbellies 9-5 at Queen's Park Arena.
"They all count now," Adanacs general manager Les Wingrove told The Tri-City News on Tuesday. "Everybody's hungry. Nobody's going to roll over and die."
Against the T-men, he A's led 3-2 after the first period but trailed 6-5 after the second. The A's led 8-7 until the T-men's Joel Henry tallied with six minutes left to knot the count and eventually force overtime. There, Olson scored 20 ticks apart in the opening two minutes of the 10-minute frame before Nanaimo's Cayle Ratcliff narrowed the margin to one and closed out the scoring with 2:29 to play.
After Olson, Jason Jones was next on the A's scoring list with two markers. Coquitlam singles went to Tim Campeau, Dane Dobbie, Robbie Campbell and Cory Conway, who also collected four assists.
Against the 'Bellies, Olson bagged the first two goals for the A's -- finishing with three in the game -- as Coquitlam raced to period leads of 4-2 and 9-3.
Other A's to net two tallies apiece were the Coquitlam native Campeau and Conway, who added four helpers. Daryl Veltman Jon Harnett and Dobbie also struck net for the winners.
Two former PoCo Jr. 'A' Saints, Kyle Ross and Martin Cummings, were among the few New West goal-getters.
Nick Rose was outstanding in the A's cage, making 43 saves as the 'Bellies out-shot Coquitlam by a 48-36 count, including 22-4 in the third period.
The A's wrap up the regular campaign with a home-and-home series versus the third-place Langley Thunder, including the finale in Coquitlam July 30.
