Sunday Double

Two games took up the latter half of my Sunday afternoon this weekend. I finally got my chance to see Nanaimo play when they took on Coquitlam, and then buzzed over to Bill Copeland Arena to see the Saints play the Lakers. Nanaimo, Coquitlam, and Poco were all coming off wins, and the Lakers were looking to gain some points after their loss to the Timbermen on Friday.

GAME 1 - Nanaimo @ Coquitlam
After beating the Lakers 7-4 in Nanaimo the Timbermen made their way to Coquitlam to take on the Adanacs who currently sit number one in the BCJALL standings with two games in hand on Burnaby, and one in hand on Victoria.

It took a while to get some offense that counted but the first goal on the sheet for the game would go to Coquitlam's Jarrett Davis on the power play, and quickly answered back by Joel Pelletier- also with the man up. There was some pushing and shoving to end the first but nothing became of it and the score was tied at one to head into the second.

Nanaimo would only score one again in the middle frame, this time from Matt Wray who took advantage of a bad giveaway and managed to beat Joel Weber.

But goals from Sean Robinson and Jordan Weir added to Scott Defrancesco's short handed goal put the A's up 4-2 on the T-Men in the second. The short-handed marker appeared to be the turning point in the game and gave the Adanacs that extra push towards a win.

Ryan Kwasnica and Kevin Riley would score within thirty seconds of each other in the third to give the Adanacs a spark; and soon after Kelly Kilpatrick would add a goal to his two assists on the night.

Morgan Mitchell, Pelletier, and Colton Clark would all score for the T-Men in the third but it was too little too late for Nanaimo.

From where I was sitting behind the penalty box there were two fairly dirty back-checks on Nanaimo players in the last two minutes of the game. Both happened in proximity of the referees but no calls were made much to the dismay of the T-Men bench and fans.

A's netminder Joel Weber had two chances at an open net goal in the last 20 seconds but the damage was done and the game ended 7-5 for Coquilam who retain the top spot.

Game Notes:
Nanaimo played pretty well. They took their checks, made sure to take chances, and didn't let Weber get them down with his unbelievable saves and impressive passing. The only time I was disappointed with their play was in the second when they let in a short handed goal from Defrancesco and then let their shot clock run out; but other than that the T-Men kept me interested in the game, which can be hard to do when you're playing the Adanacs at home. 

Penalties were minimal in the game- 8 minutes for Coquitlam and 6 for Nanaimo. Play from both teams was disciplined and enjoyable to watch.

GAME 2 - Poco @ Burnaby
When I arrived at the Burnaby game Dayne Michaud had just scored to cut the Laker lead to 2-1. With two minutes to go Robert Kraakman would tie it up at two, and Poco captain Andrew Murphy would score to put the Saints ahead by one. But it wasn't long before Alex Gajic would tie it at three with 48 seconds, and Joe Vetere made sure the home crowd had the lead to head into the second, Vetere scored with just 0.3 seconds left.

Tony Kuppan opened the middle frame with a nice unassisted goal for the Lakers, but Martin Cummings and Matt Laustrup would score to tied it up at five goals a piece. With just three minutes left in the period Gajic would score two more to give the Lakers the late lead again.

In the third Darcy Cummings would score two goals in three minutes and Murphy would get a power play goal but three other goals from Burnaby would end the game 10-8 for the Lakers.

Game Notes:
Shots in the game were even at 13 after the first, even at 26 at the end of the second, and would end 41-37 in favor of the Lakers. Goes to show how shots on goal can determine the outcome of the game, but also shows how even goaltending was. Tyson Cornfield did a great job in net tonight for the Saints standing up when they needed him; and Burnaby's Tom Wray looked off his game and a little shaky on a couple of goals, but for the most part did his job. I think this is the first game I haven't seen both Wray and Smith share the net minutes for the Lakers.

Gajic had another six point night and solidifies everyone's thoughts that he might just be the best Junior player in all the land. When people look at the score sheet and say "slow night for Gajic- only 6 points" you know you're watching a future NLL star.