Last Meeting

Submitted by League Reporter, Jen Mutas

Wednesday night in Coquitlam would be the last time the Adanacs and Islanders would face each other this season, and it was also a chance for the A’s to slip one point past the Salmonbellies for first spot in the BCJALL. In the last two meetings the scores have been relatively close considering the points between them in the standings; Coquitlam won the first game by two goals and the second by four goals. Looking back even further, it’s hard to look past the fact the Islanders were the only team to take a win off the Adanacs in the 2009 season where the A’s finished the season 20-1 and went on to become BC champions.

Both the Islanders and Adanacs were coming off wins going into this game, so the need to establish control had to come early and had to be consistent. The A’s were quick to jump on the challenge and making his returning debut in style, Ben McIntosh converted a great feed from Matt Beers for the first goal of the game and would follow up with another shortly after. Western defenders are still getting used to the large size and soft hands of ex-Whitby Warrior Mark Matthews, who is now lighting up the BCJALL averaging 6.4 points a game. Matthews put in two of his four goals in the first period, and was instrumental on most of the Adanac offensive drives. Possession was heavily favoured in Coquitlam’s direction in the first period, and oddly enough the Islanders looked most comfortable on the floor while playing a man down. Logan Schuss crept in on the right side of A’s keeper Dan Lewis while short-handed and buried the ball with under five minutes to go in the period.

Four goals would separate the teams after twenty minutes of play and the Islanders appeared to be the ones who benefitted most from the break in between periods scoring five goals in the first half of the second. Whether he needed a break or there was a problem with his equipment, Lewis would quickly be replaced by Chris Seidel for about four minutes in the period, but after a couple more Islander goals Lewis would sub back in and looked more focused. As Delta started the period strong it was the Adanacs who would provide the finish, scoring four goals in the last four minutes to increase their lead 12-7. The middle frame would end with a tilt between Matt Beers and Asahel Beaudet; both parties removed their helmets with some encouragement, but there wasn’t a lot of quality contact for punches. At one point Beaudet was going down and Beers seemed to stand him back up before jersey pulling him and by that time the refs had stepped in to guide them to the sin bin.

Proving they are just as effective short-handed as a man up, the Adanac PK turned a scrambled faceoff into a goal opportunity as Matthews used his impressive wingspan to pick up the ball and streak in on Blake Duncan as he pump faked and made no mistake just twelve seconds into the third period. Speaking of face-offs, in addition to his seven points this evening (2 goals, 5 assists) Matthew Dinsdale dominated the circle tonight for the A’s winning 23 and dropping just 9, providing the valuable starts needed for their explosive offense. Matthew’s goals was one of eight in the period, the A’s didn’t let up one bit on the Islanders and towards the end Delta frustration penalties would provide the platform for the last three Coquitlam goals. Ryan Keith would score with the man advantage for Delta, and Nathan Clare scored on a delayed penalty but the A’s still managed to pad their large lead and ended up taking the game by a score of 20-9.

Leading the league with 159 goals in 14 games played the A’s have had no problem finding the back of the net, especially in their last four games in which they have scored 59 goals. Both the A’s and Salmonbellies are rotating their spot at the top of the BCJALL, and funny enough both teams have the exact same goal average of 11.3 per game; so as the season is closing out the competition is only just beginning, especially at the top of the table.