Queens Park Sweet to 'Bellies

Submitted by League Reporter, Jen Mutas

At a time where I'm usually at home and halfway through my post game article, I was still sitting at the arena watching the extremely intense final minutes of game two of the BCJALL finals. No there wasn't overtime, but a combination of a late start, a dust up in the first (which required way too much time to decide on penalties), and your typical game delays of the final series, would make it a late night for everyone.

The captivating green wooden floor that has treated the 'Bellies so well in the post season worked it's magic from the get-go for the home team. Brandon Goodwin would open up scoring in game two as he took a wide swing around his defender and released the ball at just the right time to beat Dan Lewis who started in net for the Adanacs. Just as he had done his team a service to start the game, Goodwin followed with a disservice by getting called for interference five minutes later, resulting in a power play goal from Ben McIntosh on a tic-tac-toe play from the A's.

Corbyn Tao would score halfway through the period in what looked like a shot from between his legs as he was driving the net, and after that goal all hell broke loose on the floor. Pushing and shoving turned into a full floor brawl with heavy punches being thrown all over the place. When all was divided and penalties were being assessed, the A's lost their key defender Brandon Turner to a game misconduct, and New West lost Payton Sanders to the same call. In what seemed like forever to get the game on track it was five on four play for the 'Bellies. TJ Cowx tied the game at two on his power play goal as he was left all alone at the side of the net, and a couple of minutes later Curtis Dickson would put one in to give the 'Bellies the lead. Spending more time in the New West zone the A's would follow suit as Robert Church threw one in from his office at the top of the shooting circle, and with just a minute to go in the first Travis Cornwall would score as well. After getting possession with just ten seconds left the A's took a timeout to calculate a play; Trevor Moore would play the role of executor as he rifled one from the outside as he's done so many times this season, to give Coquitlam a two goal cushion heading into the second period.

Just as he did in game one 'Bellies keeper Neil Tyacke would pull himself in the second after five goals against, except this time it had more to do with his collision with Matt Beers in the final minutes of the first rather than his goals against. Both guys stand at 6'3", but Beers has the bulk on Tyacke by 15lbs; factoring in goalie gear, the two get a little closer in weight, but Tyacke definitely seemed more shook up after the collision. To support their new goalie, the New West offense decided to go on a tear in the second period starting off with Dickson scoring while getting high sticked right in the mask.

Salmonbellies captain Jarrett Toll followed suit with a smart pickup off the initial save from Lewis as he sniped the rebound right past his defender and to the back of the net to tie the game at five. Mark Negrin would get the go ahead goal after Toll, and that would be enough to get to Lewis as he pulled himself and made room for Chris Seidel. Waiting for play to commence after two quick goals from Church and McIntosh to get the A's within one, Dickson would get shoved hard enough for his helmet to come off; while he's bent over picking it up Matt Beers would accidentally/on purpose run into him. Taking exception Ben Davies gave Beers a quick slash on the arms to which he was immediately penalized, which was confusing to watch as the refs had let everything leading up to that go. New West was able to not only kill that penalty, but score a shorthanded goal courtesy of their captain as he buried the ball the same way he did just ten minutes earlier; swinging his arms up almost like a baseball swing and getting a rising release of the ball, which appeared to puzzle both Coquitlam keepers.

New West battled back with seven goals in the second to head into the third ahead by three on their bitter rivals in this final series. Coquitlam came out hard in the third and had a frustrating start as McIntosh quite obviously put the ball in the back of the net but it was somehow called off by the refs. Exactly one minute later on a four minute checking from behind penalty McIntosh would make sure the refs saw this one coming as he threw one in with the man advantage to try and catch the 'Bellies. In a really confusing play in the A's zone, Brandon Goodwin would be the victor as Seidel for some reason came way out of his net to play a ball with quite a few players behind him on the floor. Showing obvious frustration for the Adanacs was Jordan Weir who quickly converted his aggravation into goals as he scored a natural hat trick in just over three minutes including two goals with the man advantage to tie the game at eleven. Just as it seemed to look like Coquitlam was pulling a fast one on the 'Bellies after all their hard work it was Kevin Crowley who would start the finishing process. Two goals from Negrin and two empty netters from Goodwin and Ben Davies would ensure New West won the game by a final score of 16-12, and also evened the BCJALL finals at one game a piece.

Following their explosive second period, the 'Bellies managed to not only maintain their momentum throughout the rest of the game, but also stifled the Adanacs when they were doing their traditional 'come back and finish them' routine late in the third. Realizing their defensive mistakes on those three quick goals from Weir gave New West just enough time to turn things around and get back their control.

Usually the Adanacs embarrass other teams when it comes to defense but tonight's d-game was dominated by guys like Jordan Catton who had at least three steals to go with his two assists, and Jarrett Toll who scored no doubt the two most important goals of the game- the first to tie the game at five after falling early in the first, and his second goal short handed to give his team confidence even when they were a man down.

Coquitlam once again went almost twenty minutes without a goal in between the second and third periods, resulting in New West gaining momentum and ultimately taking the game. Just like game one, the slump followed their goalie switch, one can only assume part of the focus for game three will be on clearing the heads of their goalies in preparation. Not being able to force the big comeback in the third will play heavy on the A's mind but if there's any team in the league who can shake it off, it's Coquitlam.

Going hand-in-hand with the arguments, discussions, banter, and every day chit chat about the BCJALL post season so far this year, has been the issue of refereeing. Usually I have a lot of respect for the stripes who go out there night after night to try and keep the game on an even keel, but I can't keep quiet anymore. Disclaimer time- *the following remarks are solely that of me, and in no way reflect the thoughts of anyone else in the league* Tonight's game between these two fine teams was just the latest victim of shoddy refereeing. In a series like the BC finals in which the winning team will head back east to try and capture the coveted Minto Cup, the players, coaches, and fans have been subject to frustrating and sometimes unbelievable calls/non-calls. After the rough up in the first period it took seven minutes to decide on penalties, and then figure out who was who. One player would head to the box, only to switch with another player a minute later. After consulting with both benches for the right calls and players, the play resumed eleven minutes later- this was still with half a period to go.

There were two blatant missed goals (one per team) in the game tonight, and countless missed calls affecting both teams at critical times. These comments go for the rest of the post season as well, and apply to all the teams that have participated; at this point in the game it's more important than ever to have accountable refereeing. Between teams who are so evenly matched such as our finalists, the slightest thing can catapult the game in a different direction. The issue of refereeing is distracting everyone both on and off the floor, and clouding the important parts of a very important series. I am in no way generalizing for all the refs who work Junior 'A' games, just a select few to which I'll let the readers fill in the blanks.