BCJALL Finals - Game One

Submitted by League Reporter, Jen Mutas 

Photos supplied by Paul Sparrow

The much anticipated British Columbia Junior A Lacrosse League Finals got underway Wednesday night in Coquitlam between the league leading Adanacs and runners up New West Salmonbellies, who are facing each other in the finals for the second consecutive year. Both teams are guaranteed a spot in the Minto as BC has two representatives due to the Adanacs being the host, but heading into the national tournament as the ultimate post-season victor of the league is the task-at-hand for these two heavyweights.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="399"] New West's goaltender Brandon Mulligan played all but a minute of game one but can't stop Coquitlam's Intermediate call up Wesley Berg as the Adanacs put four in during overtime.[/caption]

A’s goalie Brodie MacDonald made 28 saves with only 2 goals against in relief of Chris Seidel and was a huge part in shutting down the New West offense. New West goaltender Brandon Mulligan played solid during regulation time and made numerous huge saves off Coquitlam’s potent offense making 42 saves in the first sixty minutes. Unfortunately the overtime period was a different story for Mulligan who was replaced by Frank Scigliano towards the end of the period but the damage was already done.

Both the A’s and the ‘Bellies played a disciplined game with only six penalties per side which was good to see in the finals as it made for exciting lacrosse. When the opportunity arose, both sides power play ended up running at 50% with three goals scored each, and all the goals were textbook plays with impressive finishes. It was never more than a two goal game until the overtime period and the final score doesn’t necessarily reflect the feel of the game during regulation. The ‘Bellies will be hoping for home floor advantage to even up the series as they head back to Queen's Park Arena to host game two on Friday night.