All Good Things Come to an End

Submitted by League Reporter, Jen Mutas

 Victoria and Nanaimo opened up the 2009 BCJALL season way back on April 24th, and both teams would be in action on the last day of the regular season July 5th. The first place Coquitlam Adanacs hosted the Shamrocks on the mainland, and over on the Island the T-Men tried to knock down Burnaby for the chance to pass Delta for fifth spot in the standings.

Although the outcome of the Coquitlam/Victoria game would not affect the standings with both teams getting a bye into the second round of playoffs, they were not about to let it slide knowing they might face each other for the BC title later on in the post season. The Adanacs were pushing to extend their record to an impressive 20-1, and the Shamrocks wanted nothing more than to stop them at 19 wins.

The home arena advantage would be prevalent early for the A's as Matt Dinsdale would capitalize on the first offensive rush by rolling the ball along the floor past Greg Krstic. Just a couple of minutes later Dinsdale again would find himself with the ball and the shot clock winding down; when he couldn't find a lane to pass, he opted to shoot the ball and with some luck beat Krstic again. After getting called for the slash Victoria would allow a power play goal from Corbyn Tao and the A's were off to a comfortable start against their neighbour in the standings. Joel Henry would be the first and only Shamrock to beat Dan Lewis in the first period, but after another goal with the man advantage and one at even strength from Steven Shantz, the Adanacs went into the first break ahead of the 'Rocks by four goals.

Garrett McIntosh ended the first with a power play goal and would carry it over by scoring first in the second period on a lucky bounce off the boards for an unassisted goal. Points leader Robert Church would add to his total and score next for the A's, and with the assist on Church's goal, Trevor Moore would be the second Adanacs in the 2009 season to register 100 points. Victoria would get their offense going at the five minute mark of the second, with two goals from Mike Pires, and singles from Kory Kowalyk and Brandon McLean who came jetting in off the bench and leaned into a rocket from the shooting circle. The A's would keep pressing throughout the period, and two more goals from McIntosh and Tao would maintain their four goal lead for the second break.

A tight checking game and tough work down low was starting to wear on both teams in the third, resulting in a slower paced period with only one goal per team. Church and Moore would team up once again for the A's, and Ben Towner would once again beat Lewis from the shooting circle, but the goal difference would remain the same and the Adanacs would cruise to a 10-6 win in their final game of the regular season.

Moore with his five assists tonight brought him to 102 points altogether, and Church's two goals and four helpers would bring the rookies total to an impressive 107. Church is the first rookie since Kevin Alexander to capture the scoring title; Alexander did so in 1974 when he scored an unbelievable 159 points for the Shamrocks. 

As for the other game in action on Sunday, Nanaimo had crushed the playoff hopes of the Poco Saints on Saturday and were relying on the momentum from that win to carry over and bring them luck against the red hot Lakers, who's only losses in the past couple of weeks have come at the hands of the Adanacs.

Shaun Dhaliwal would tear up Nanaimo Ice Center in the first period registering a natural hat trick including a short handed goal. Cody Bremner would score twice and Ryan Forslund once to keep the score close, but Burnaby would stay ahead by one thanks to another short handed goal from Mitch Dibblee.

Both teams would again score four and three goals in the second, this time all four for the Lakers coming from Jackson Decker (two power play, one shorthanded, and one even-strength), and three different scorers for Nanaimo.

The T-Men would come out strong in the third, tying the score up at eight with goals from Steve Higgs and Mitch McLaren, and from then on the teams would trade goals, resulting in a tie at eleven after sixty minutes of regulation time.

Bremner would give the fans in Nanaimo something to cheer about in the overtime period when he put the ball past Patrick Balis for the go-ahead on the power play, but the Lakers would counter just a minute later when Chase Clark tied it up again. Nanaimo would take a defeating penalty when Adam Backular-Evans got called for spearing, and Burnaby made sure to make them pay with yet another power play goal from Riley Loewen. That would be the game winner, to send the Lakers back to the mainland with a win under their belt, and a playoff date with Delta starting on Tuesday the 7th. Nanaimo will now face New West in a rematch of last years quarterfinals where the 'Bellies took the series three games to one. Just a reminder the 2009 quarterfinals are now a best of three game series, not five like years past. 

To the POST-SEASON!