BCJALL Finals: New West Survives Late Comeback to Tie Series

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series tied 1-1

In the leadup to the BCJALL Finals, New Westminster Head Coach Rich Catton was adamant that his team needed to have enough mental toughness to be able to survive a 7-game war with the Coquitlam Adanacs.

Consider it mission accomplished for Game 2, as New West never trailed en route to a massive Game 2 win on the road over their arch nemesis down the Lougheed. 

The Salmonbellies almost seem to be able to penetrate Coquitlam's usually rock-solid defence at will in front of a big crowd on Friday night, looking very much like a team who is starting to realize they can go toe-to-toe with one of the best Junior A teams in the country. On the other hand, the Adanacs showed some vulnerabilities we haven't seen much of since the early parts of the season when a majority of their core hadn't even returned from school or other commitments yet. 

And as much as we talk about the venerable Coquitlam defence, it was arguably New West's that stole the show. While it feels like the Adanacs got more than 6 third-period shots like the BCJALL website shows, it might not have mattered anyway. Erik Kratz had one of his best performances of the year, allowing just four goals on 33 shots and looking every bit of the goaltender New Westminster will need to lean on as this series wears on. 

One of the most noticeable Adanacs was definitely Chase Scanlan. The Ontario product put up the only goals for the A's, including two in two minutes to pull Coquitlam within a goal in the third period. With such a deep and talented group coming out of the front gate, the A's will need more balanced scoring if they are to clinch a trip to the Minto Cup. 

As broadcaster Brad Challoner pointed out on Twitter, the 'Bellies were able to get inside the A's D and on top of Christian Del Bianco, forcing him to make several high-quality stops in the opening 40 minutes. New West peppered CDB with 35 shots in the opening two frames, and 47 overall. Allowing six goals should be enough to win you the average lacrosse game, but as we noted in our BCJALL Finals preview, that's not likely to be the case in this series. Goals are already proving to be at a premium with just 22 scored in the first two games. 

There are still many questions still left unanswered, but we will likely get a better idea of how the momentum in this series is turning when the two clubs return to the Palace on Poirier again for Game 3 on Sunday night. That game, as all others in this series, will be broadcasted live on PPV through PlayFullScreen. 

3 stars

1. Erik Kratz -- Last season's BCJALL Goaltender of the Year looked every bit the part on Friday night, making 29 saves on 33 shots for a .879 save percentage. Many would argue he outdueled his counterpart in CDB, but others will point out that New West had a much more tenacious D in Game 2. Whatever the case, he looks cool and calm in the cage, a promising sign for the Salmonbellies as they try to take a pivotal Game 3 and steal home-floor advantage from Coquitlam.

2. Chase Scanlan -- Scanlan had arguably one of his strongest games of a breakout season, putting all four of the Adanacs tallies behind Kratz. He leads all scorers with 7 goals in this BCJALL Finals, but he will need some help if Coquitlam is going to be BC's representative at the Minto in Calgary. 

3. Ryan Jones -- What an add Ryan Jones has been for New West. He's gelled quickly with the rest of his teammates since arriving from Delta in a Trade Deadline deal and has contributed in a number of different ways for the club. Despite only having two assists in this one, he has been playing well under pressure and is taking advantage of every opportunity he gets.