Day One of Ball Breaker Tournament

Things to do in April:

Not be fooled on the 1st
File taxes by the 15th
Hit up the Ball Breaker Tourney from the 18-20
Done, done, and done. One can tell from my previous articles I'm fairly excited that the Jr. A lacrosse season has finally come. Two triple-header days is just what I needed to whet my appetite before the regular season gets under way on Wednesday.
Game one - South Fraser versus Coquitlam
6pm- Game one of the tourney saw the Coquitlam Adanacs take on the South Fraser Stickmen. Both teams had player movement in the off season, and both teams choosing to rest key players.
The A's came out strong in the first, taking advantage on the power play with two goals on the man advantage, and one from Brandon Turner to end the period three nothing.

Both teams decided to switch goalies in the second, and the pace and intensity switched with it. Chris Martin scored first for the Stickmen for his second goal of the pre-season, and with a minute to go in the frame Graham Weidenhammer slid along the edge of the crease and rifled it in to give South Fraser its second goal of the game.

Jordan Weir scored his second goal in the middle frame, along with Scott Defrancesco to keep the A's up 5-2.

Weir managed a goal a period for a hat trick on the game, scoring again halfway through the third. There were opportunities for more goals for both teams before the game ended, but goalies came up huge in the third, and scoring was limited to the final goal from Weir.

South Fraser had a two man advantage with about ten minutes to go in the game, but had a hard time controlling the possession in Coquitlams end. At the other end of the floor Mike Lowe came up huge for the Stickmen in the final frame, making at least eleven saves (that I could count), including three back to back denials on a two man odd rush from Coquitlam.

Final score from game one was 6-2 for Coquitlam.

7:20- Game two - Port Coquitlam and New Westminster.
The second game of the evening had a great start to it, very physical from the first whistle. Great checks, fast pace, and quick ball movement- the perfect mixture for a good game of lacrosse.

Trevor Evans was the first player to lay a hit in the game, crunching Salmonbellie Bryan Tyacke. This was the hit that set the tone for the game, and for that I say- thank you Evans!

Poco looked to be the stronger team in the first but New West was first on the score sheet. Dylan Bernard deaked around Dayne Michaud and dove across the top of the crease right into a New West player, but still managed to find the back of the net diving on his stomach.

Both netminders were put to the test in the first with the fast pace, and the back to back break aways- Evans for the Saints, and Brandon Goodwin for NW. Both players were stuffed big time by the goalies. Lots of speed in the first, Poco managed to go into the second up 3-2 on the 'Bellies.

Matt Laustrup scored twice in the middle frame for Poco, both goals with a lot of finesse. Martin Cummings had a good looking unassisted marker halfway through the second to give him a hat trick on the evening, and Jordan Flaman took advantage of a bad lead pass by rushing the net, and bouncing it past Neil Tyacke five-hole.

New West only managed one goal in the second on the power play, and seemed more interested in trying to rough up the Saints towards the end of the period. Lots of pushing and shoving at the end of the second, and the score was 7-3 for the host Saints.

The 'Bellies looked frustrated to be down in the third and Drew Duncan let out some frustration on the Poco net with an absolute laser shot from the top of the crease, but unfortunately that would be it for scoring for New West.

Poco went into the third with a two man advantage for 54 seconds but couldn't convert. It wasn't until the teams were three on three halfway through the period that Dayne Michaud went in alone to put one past New West.

The Saints played a well-rounded game- they held possession well, looked sharp on special teams, and both their goalies made great reflex saves when needed. Darcy Cummings scored the final goal for Poco, and it was well worth the wait. He held his shot until the goalie went down and went straight for the hip, great execution of control on his shot.

I saw it coming a mile away, and sure enough with 49 seconds to go there was a scrap between Matt Laustrup (Poco) and Matt Parker (NW). After the helmets and gloves were taken off they came together to land some pretty good punches, with great effort from both guys to give the crowd a good fight.

Final score from game two was 9-4 in favor of the Saints

Last but not least came the Delta and Burnaby game.
I was looking forward to see how the Lakers look with their two new goalies. Brandon Smith (came from South Fraser) and Tom Wray (from Nanaimo). Wray got the start, and had to make a few good saves to start, but had some trouble when new Islander Shawn Rowan charged into the crease and threw one past him.

Jackson Lee answered back for Burnaby about a minute later, and shortly after Alex Gajic capitalized on the power play. With five minutes to go, Joe Vetere threw one past Steve Bourget right after the face-off, to give Burnaby a 3-2 lead to head into the second.

Bourget was brought in from Ontario by Delta, and got his first look at the west coast Jr A league by facing the defending champs. He held up alright considering, but lacked confidence on some of his reactions and passing.

There wasn't much action in the second, Eric Loewen scored for Burnaby, and Brandon Smith was put in with five minutes to go.

Delta had a few bright spots in the third, like when Kyle McCartney stripped the ball from Conner Mooney and had a good looking break away, but Smith stood tall for the Lakers. The two goals in the first would be all Delta could put away.

Joe Vetere slid across the crease halfway through the final frame to get some offence going for Burnaby, and with time running down he threw in another- a long straight shot from just outside the top of the crease for a hat trick.

Burnaby definitely didn't look like the team from yester-year, but after losing that many graduating players it was no big surprise. For just arriving on the team, goalies Wray and Smith looked pretty good- Smith with a shutout in his first game dressed.

Final score was 7-2 for the defending BC Champion Lakers.

Sunday's schedule is as follows:
6PM- Delta vs. New West
7:20PM- Coquitlam vs. Burnaby
8:40PM- Poco vs. South Fraser