For the second year in a row the Coquitlam Jr. Adanacs came up short in the Minto Cup finals.
The club was finished off in Game 6 last Saturday night, falling 9-4 to the Six Nations Arrows, who repeat as junior ‘A’ lacrosse champions.
Arrows shooter Austin Staats was the first to score in the must-win match for the A’s. Brendan Bomberry, who was named Minto Cup MVP, made it 2-0 for the home team before Coquitlam was able to get on the board with a marker from Chase McIntyre.
The game looked to still be in reach for Coquitlam for a few more minutes, but two more goals from the Arrows before the end of the first and two more in the second put the A’s in a big hole going into the final frame.
A determined Jean-Luc Chetner managed to pot one early in the third, assisted by Cole Shafer, who scored a goal of his own two minutes later.
But any hope that the A’s would be able to turn things around and make a comeback were quashed when Six Nations’ Ryan Lee scored back-to-back markers less than one minute apart, both assisted by Jordan Durston.
Jordan Magnuson managed to score an unassisted tally for Coquitlam at the midway mark, but a strong defence from the Arrows made it tough for the A’s to gain the zone.
When the final buzzer rang, Coquitlam was down 9-4, missing out on junior ‘A’ lacrosse’s biggest prize for a second year in a row.
Cole Shafer, who played his last game in a Jr. Adanacs uniform, was named player of the game for Coquitlam.
Thursday night’s Game 5 didn’t go much better for the Jr. Adanacs, who managed just two goals in the game.
Chetner scored one when he buried a pass from Cole Shafer in the first, but Coquitlam’s offence went quiet after that, despite registering 41 shots in the match. It wasn’t until Andy Campbell scored an unassisted goal five minutes into the third that the club was able to cut down the Arrows lead, but by then it was too late.
The Arrows had built up four goal lead, an enormous differential for a team with such a stingy defence and strong goaltending. In fact, Arrows netminder Doug Jamieson stopped 39 of the 41 shots he faced in the match, while at the other end of the rink Christian Del Bianco stopped 42 of 50 in the 8-2 loss.
Arrows shooter Bomberry was named MVP and also received the Jim Bishop Award, which is given for outstanding sportsmanship. It is the first time in the history of the Minto Cup series that a player has won both honours.
