A's Open 2009 with a Win

Submitted by League Reporter, Jen Mutas

The Coquitlam Adanacs had five days between their last pre-season game versus Langley and their home opener late Sunday afternoon to hone their craft and work out the kinks. While the A's were victorious in their last game, their season opener opponent Nanaimo was fresh off a loss to Victoria just two days previous.

The Timbermen looked to be headed down the same path as Friday with Coquitlam jumping out of the gate early. Robert Church scored a hat trick in the opening frame alone, and with help from Marty Dinsdale and Travis Cornwall the Adanacs would enjoy a comfortable lead. Doug Langlois would make sure the T-Men wouldn't head into the break with a goose egg, but the A's were peppering Robbie Pierson with shots, 26 in the first to be precise.

The tone set in the first twenty minutes would resonate through the entire game, but when you factor in the shots on goal and the score on the board, the game seemed lopsided through two periods of play. The Adanacs were ahead by four goals going into the second, and then the T-Men scored four unanswered goals to tie it up at five. The score could have dipped more in Nanaimo's favour, with three posts being hit after the tying goal, and Dan Lewis making some acrobatic saves for the A's.

Heading into the third the crowd was placing bets on how the final period would unfold; would the T-Mens momentum continue or would the A's come back and take control? The guy sitting in front of me lost twenty bucks to his son when Robert Church threw his fourth and fifth goal, with teammate Travis Cornwall also netting two in the final period. Nanaimo would make a final run thanks to a power play goal from Kyle Hofer and a last minute goal from Sam Kobe, but Coquitlam out-finessed Nanaimo for just a little bit longer.

Even with the loss the T-Men looked like they got all their jitters out from the season opener against Victoria. Their set plays were a lot more calculated and goaltending from Robbie Pierson was a significant improvement, seeing 61 shots and not allowing a goal in the second period. Little things such as loose balls, passing under pressure, and transition looked shaky at times for Nanaimo, but for the most part was promptly corrected.

The Adanacs played their game, but not for the full sixty minutes, having a lull in the middle frame where they got into penalty trouble and looked a bit frustrated.

Just like Nanaimo the story of the game was from the 6th man between the pipes; Dan Lewis facing 52 shots on the night and getting an assist on Travis Cornwall's first period goal.