The Coquitlam Adanacs’ win-streak was halted Friday night after a tightly-played 10-9 loss to the league-leading Victoria Shamrocks at the Q Centre.
Both teams struggled to hang on to the lead for most of the game, with goals being scored right up until the final seconds of the match.
But the visiting Adanacs found themselves on the wrong side of the scoreboard when the buzzer sounded, taking their first loss in four games.
The Shamrocks opened the scoring just over one minute into the first period, but Brendon Anger evened things for the Adanacs 60 seconds later.
Coquitlam’s Travis Cornwall tied the game up against after Victoria scored its second goal, and the teams exchanged goals several more times before the second period.
The Adanacs appeared to start to pull away early in the middle frame, when Terry Ellis and Anger scored two short-handed markers, but Victoria’s Corey Small answered with a pair of goal to tie things up again.
In the third, it was Victoria’s turn to take the lead, with the team scoring three unanswered tallies to make it 10-7 for the Shamrocks.
But Coquitlam was not ready to quit, and with Five minutes left in the game Ryan Johnson made it 10-8 after burying a pass from Carson Barton. A goal from Brian Gillis with seven seconds left in the game was not enough to close the gap on the scoreboard and the A’s put its third notch in the loss column of the year.
Coquitlam were much more dominant in their return to the Poirier Sports and Leisure Complex 24-hours later, where they took on the second-place New Westminster Salmonbellies.
The game was fairly even early on, before the A’s went on a five-goal run beginning at the end of the first period and was only interupted when New West’s Jordan McBride potted a power play goal in the second.
Two more goals from Coquitlam’s Vincent Ricci and Barton made it 9-4 for the home team when the final buzzer sounded.
Tyler Garrison had a four-point night, potting one goal and three assists, while Gillis scored two goals and two assists. Adam Shute was strong in net, turning away 50 of the 54 shots he faced.
Coquitlam was expected to play the Burnaby Lakers Tuesday night at the Bill Copeland Arena after The Tri-City News’ deadline.
The Adanacs will be back at the Poirier Sport and Leisure Complex when the Shamrocks come to town. The opening faceoff is at 7 p.m.
For more information and a complete league schedule go to www.wlalacrosse.com.
@gmckennaTC
