PoCo Saints stayed step for step with the hard-charging Coquitlam Jr. Adanacs for one period Wednesday.
Then the Jr. A's got an earful and kicked it into overdrive.
Coquitlam out-scored the Saints 10-2 in the second frame and scampered to a 16-6 triumph in B.C. Junior A lacrosse league action at Poirier Sports Complex.
The Jr. A's completely dominated the middle stanza, out-shooting PoCo 28-13 and, eventually, 59-38 overall.
Jr. A's head coach Neil Dinsdale had some choice words after the first frame for his players, who dropped a stunning 3-2 decision to the Saints two weeks ago in Coquitlam.
"I told them to wake the [bleep] up," Dinsdale said curtly. "Sometimes, simple is best."
It worked. The Jr. A's pumped in nine straight markers in a 13-minute span, with Wesley Berg accounting for four of those.
The win boosted the first-place Jr. A's to 14-3-0, while fourth-place PoCo dipped to 9-8-0.
"Coquitlam wanted it real bad. They were a bit embarrassed by the last [loss to us]," said Saints general manager Reg Thompson. "Our guys didn't do what we did the last time, which was contain them and not let them run around.
"I would say 10 of their goals were from their guys going right down the middle."
Meanwhile, the New Westminster Jr. Salmonbellies sit 12-4-0 behind the Jr. A's, with the 10-5-1 Delta Islanders still in hot playoff pursuit in the eight-team loop.
"There's plenty of incentive for us," Dinsdale insisted. "[The league's] unfolding as we thought it would... [with] us, New West and Delta in the top three spots. It's not just a matter of finishing first in the regular season, it's also finishing first in order to play the fourth-place team. [The series between] second and third is going to be a battle."
With four games remaining in their 21-game schedule, the Saints are currently tied in points for the fourth and final playoff spot with the Langley Jr. Thunder, both with 18, while the Victoria Jr. Shamrocks are close behind with 14.
"We're not good enough to take things for granted," Thompson added. "We have to start working harder, and it starts in practice. If you screw around in practice, it's going to show in the games."
Berg led the Jr. A's with five goals and two assists Wednesday. Robert Church and Ben McIntosh netted four markers apiece for the winners, who got two more from Matthew Dinsdale. Vincent Ricci bagged Coquitlam's other goal.
Garrett Chan paced PoCo with three goals, while Connor Goodwin notched a goal and four assists. Cory Takahara and Matt Delmonico also struck net in a losing cause.
The Saints play a pair of pivotal games on the weekend, when they visit the Islanders in Ladner on Saturday before facing Victoria on Sunday at PoCo Rec Centre, 5 p.m. Also Sunday, the Jr. A's travel to Burnaby to play the 3-13-0 Jr. Lakers.
