Edging Closer to BCJALL Finals

With Nanaimo and Port Coquitlam being beat out by New Westminster and Burnaby (respectively) the semi's got underway with the final four teams battling for their place in the finals, with hopes of making an appearance in Calgary for the Minto Cup. With their bye's to the semi- finals, Victoria and Coquitlam enjoyed a break in waiting for their opponents; whether or not the rest did them any good, would remain to be seen.

COQUITLAM (1) vs. BURNABY (4) 
After basking in the glory of (narrowly) finishing top of the BCJALL regular season standings, the Adanacs were focusing on carrying over their league-leading play into the post season. Two and a half weeks after playing their last game, they would face a familiar opponent…

The Burnaby Lakers were coming off their quarter final advancement after beating Port Coquitlam three games to one, and looking to remind Coquitlam which team had spent the last twelve years at the top. The Saints had managed to catch the Lakers off their game just once in the quarters, and Burnaby knew they couldn't let the same thing happen with the A's.

One would assume the matchup between these teams would make for some pretty good offensive lacrosse; shutting down the main offenders like Defrancesco, Kilpatrick, Gajic, and Dhaliwal would be vital for both teams to carry out. 

Goaltending would also be crucial factor in shutting down both teams offensive abilities. Scott Lowe really came out and proved himself when he had to relieve Tom Wray in the series against Poco, and now boats an impressive 89.23 save percentage. Joel Weber has taken a bit of a dive since the regular season and after seeing him all season, other teams are finally finding out his weaknesses; if there was any time to step up and prove that he is still for real, the semi finals would be the place to do it.

So the game summaries go like so…
Would the fortnight break help or hinder the A's? The Lakers had a tough task in Poirer Arena for game one and stepped up to the occasion. In addition to the tight game, it was chalked full of penalties and at the end of the night each team had 57 more minutes of penalties to their club name. 

For the A's, Scott Defrancesco had four helpers on the night, and Kelly Kilpatrick had a couple of goals. The Lakers shared the points around, having six players with two or more points on the night. In the end it was a 6-4 victory for the visiting Lakers, setting the tone in game one they weren't going to go down easy.

Game two had a different feel to it when it came to penalties, only eighteen minutes combined for both teams, which led to more tactical play. After playing to a seven goal tie, overtime was needed to settle the score. Trevor Moore would give the A's a chance to take it in the extra time, but two quick goals from Chase Williams and Shaun Dhaliwal would ensure Burnaby a critical two game advantage in the series.

By game three Coquitlam was in need of a clutch performance to keep themselves alive in the semi's, but Burnaby was on equal ground to not give them any breathing room. There was no scoring in the first which gave this game a different feel, but the Lakers four goals in the middle frame would prove to be the game winner in a tight 4-3 final that would sit the A's for the rest of the post season. Some game misconducts were handed out in the final game, most importantly Burnaby goaltender Scott Lowe getting booted for illegal equipment.

So the Lakers are off to yet another BCJALL final… and who they will face, will be up to the Shamrocks and Salmonbellies.

VICTORIA (2) vs. NEW WESTMINSTER (3)
Game one in this series would head over to Bear Mountain Arena in Victoria where the Shamrocks had an even longer wait than the A's since they last played. In this series however, it would appear the break did the Island team some good.

With Matt Flindell guarding the net there's no question the Shamrocks are a bit more at ease when it comes to the other teams offense; and although New West has impressive offense, what's more impressive is their defense. I expected Victoria to have some trouble finding their way into Sean Tessarolo, but it didn't take them long to crack the defense and Tessarolo himself.

Cayle Ratcliff and Karson Leong each had a pair of goals to give the Shamrocks a 7-5 home victory to start the series. Victoria managed to keep Alex Turner off the scoresheet, but gave way for 'Bellies captain Curtis Manning to score a pair of goals in exchange.

In game two New West seemed to have a tough time getting their offense going at home, not scoring until the third period when Kyle Belton threw in two, and Manning had the third. Scoring those three goals would just tie them with the three Victoria managed in the first two periods, and it wasn't long before the 2007 rookie of the year Mike Pires would score twice to complete his hat trick and solidify another win for Victoria.

The all important game three goes down Saturday August 2nd in Victoria where the 'Rocks will play for the sweep at home which would earn them a spot in the finals against the Lakers, and the 'Bellies will fight for their last chance at a comeback in the hunt for the Minto Cup.