'Bellies in Minto Semi Finals with Win Over Miners

The 9-2 victory tonight from Queens Park gave hope to home fans of an all BC Minto Cup final. Tomorrow’s semi-final will see the hosts take on the Six Nations Arrows Express; whom the Bellies beat in round robin play last Saturday.

The game started with a steady pace, and first goal would go to Alex Turner halfway through the period. Eric Lewthwaite and Captain Curtis Manning would put in helpers to lead the Bellies into the second with a 3-0 score.

Cole Howell would be the first Miner on the score sheet with a beauty short handed goal. Nate Schmidte would also put one in with 46 seconds to go in the second, but Jordan McBride’s two goals would keep the Bellies in the lead.

Sean Tessarolo would come in for relief of Craig Robertson five minutes into the third frame and did a great job to keep Edmonton to their two goals. McBride would throw in one more for a hat trick on the evening; Lewthwaite put in another for the deuce, and Mike Paul got in on the third period action too. Kevin Crowley put one in with just 12 seconds to go in the game, and that would finish off Edmonton, who end their Minto Cup stint with an 0-3 record.

After the Bellies were up 3-0 in the first they played a very safe style of play, not taking chances at either end. New West game MVP Jordan McBride says its how the team likes to handle the situation. “Once we get up we like to sit on the lead, you know, settle down and make sure to play our game.” And it worked, much to the dismay of the Miners who will be watching the playoffs from the stands.

Tomorrow’s match up with the Bellies taking on Six Nations should be interesting considering their last meeting in which the Bellies took it 10-7. Both teams will be fighting for the right to play the BC champs and first place overall- Burnaby Lakers.

Game time tomorrow night is at 7:30 at Queens Park in New West.