'Bellies Take Game 1

Game 1 of the British Columbia Junior A Lacrosse League finals between the New Westminster Salmonbellies and the Coquitlam Adanacs took place at Queen's Park on Wednesday night.

The Adanacs got an early power play with Justin Goodwin sitting in the box for high sticking, but ‘Bellies goaltender Ross Bowman made 3 of his 10 saves on the penalty kill as the Adanacs couldn’t beat him to take an early lead.

It took a while, but the Salmonbellies got on the board first at 6:17 when Josh Byrne beat goaltender Pete Dubenski, but the lead only lasted for 21 seconds as Jordan Gilles scored to even the score.

The Adanacs turned on the jets at 11:15 when Michael Messenger faked his first shot and then buried the second shot followed by James Rahe to quickly put the Adanacs up by 2.

On a great read defensively, Salmonbellies’ Mitch MacAulay intercepted a pass and went in on a breakaway, beating Dubenski to cut the Adanacs lead to 1. Around 45 seconds later, Anthony Malcom evened the score at 3, but the Adanacs regained their lead less than 20 seconds later with a goal wired by Cole Shafer.

It was a busy first period for Pete Dubenski as he made 18 saves, keeping the Adanacs in the game as they head into the second period with a 4-3 lead.

The second period was a busy period for both goalies, as Bowman made 14 saves with Dubenski making 17 saves.

It wasn’t good news at the beginning of the second period, as Salmonbellies’ Johnny Pearson was not on the bench and looks to be out for the rest of the game after blocking a shot in the first period. In other bad news, Adanacs’ Taylor Northway looked to have injured his left leg, as he needed to be carried off.

The Salmonbellies went on a run that certainly got to the Adanacs. Brett Dobray scored at 4:31 followed by three straight goals by Josh Byrne before the 7:30 mark, scoring his first goal behind the back and his third goal coming off the power play to give the ‘Bellies a 7-4 lead.

After taking a timeout, Adanacs’ Eli McLaughlin stopped the ‘Bellies run when he scored at 8:02 to make it 7-5. The Salmonbellies got into some penalty trouble as Justin Goodwin and Connor Robinson had to sit in the box, giving the Adanacs a 5-on-3 power play, but the Salmonbellies did a great job killing the penalties.

McLaughlin scored shorthanded when he received a pass to go on a breakaway at 12:29 to cut the ‘Bellies lead to 1. Both teams went back and forth on the offence, but both goaltenders stood tall as the ‘Bellies hanged on to a 7-6 lead at the end of the second period.

The third period started out great for the Adanacs, but turned out poorly rather quickly. Tyler Pace tied the game at 1:34 after a great run by Messenger and then McLaughlin got his hat trick at 5:05 to give the Adanacs an 8-7 lead.

Then the downpour of goals rained on Dubenski and the Adanacs. Alex Bohl picked up the loose ball and scored on the breakaway at 6:00 to tie the game at 8. Dobray put away his second and third of the game at 7:50 and 11:03 to give the ‘Bellies a 10-8 lead. At this point, the Adanacs have not really tested Bowman nor did they really test him down the road as he only needed to make 9 saves in the third period.

Anthony Malcom made it 11-8 at 13:41 followed by Bohl’s second of the game at 14:37. The Adanacs started to pull their goalie to play 6-on-5, but they continued to force their shots with most of them being blocked or missed.The icing on the cake came at 17:59 when Bowman scored an empty netter to make it 13-8 ‘Bellies which ended up being the final score as the ‘Bellies take a 1-0 lead in the best of 7 series. 

Three stars of the game
1. New Westminster – Josh Byrne – 4 goals, 1 assist
2. New Westminster – Brett Dobray – 3 goals, 3 assists
3. Coquitlam – Eli McLaughlin – 3 goals, 1 assist

Both teams will get a day rest before they are back at it on Friday night at the Coquitlam Sports Centre at 7:30PM.