In a 20-game season, the New Westminster Salmonbellies were the only team to figure out how to beat the Coquitlam Adanacs this year.
It happened late in the season and it gave them confidence they could knock off the defending provincial A1 midget lacrosse champions. The Salmonbellies came close to conjuring up that magic again Thursday afternoon when it really mattered, at the six-team A1 midget provincial lacrosse championship.
Tied 4-4 in the late stages of the third period, with both teams trying to stay undefeated, Coquitlam forward Blaine Donaldson figured it was up to him to provide the edge. He got free with the ball on his stick deep in the offensive zone, went wide across the crease and threaded a shot past goalie Johnny Edin with 3:12 left to play for what stood as the gamewinner.
"We lost to them the last game of the season so we had to come out and play hard, that was pretty close," said Adanacs assistant captain Jalen Chaster.
Chaster is just 15 but this is his second year with the midget A1 team and he wants to the taste of victory again when the championship game is played Sunday at
Kin 1. He scored the first goal of the game five minutes in and was a standout on the floor, using his speed to burn and quick reactions to create chances and utilizing a smart stick to distribute crisp passes.
"It's an honour to play with this association - this is a great group of guys on and off the floor," said Chaster. "We have a lot of passion and we just have to stay focused. You can't think you're going into the gold-medal game automatically. I don't want to think ahead that far ahead, I just want to focus on the next game."
Josh Milligan, Thomas Semple, Gabe Procyk, Robert Hofseth also scored for Coquitlam. Nick Hannay led the Salmonbellies with two goals and an assist, and Kobe Noda, Erik Maas and Jake Scott fired singles.
Edin was a difference-maker in the Salmonbellies nets and without his heroics it would not have been close. Twelve of the 17 players New West brought to Prince George are first-year midgets and they will need Edin to play like that again to have a chance at making the final.
"This was a good game for confidence for the rest of the weekend and we worked real hard - that's a great team has and they work really hard too and we've had some great battles this year," said 'Bellies head coach Rich Catton. "We look forward to seeing them later in the tournament. We've taken an underdog role in this tournament but we're hardworking, which is really important for the way we play lacrosse."
The Adanacs (3-0) started the day with a 5-4 win over the Langley Thunder and New West (2-1) followed that by beating the Saanich Tigers 7-5. The Thunder (2-2) put together a thrilling 4-3 win over the second-ranked Ridge Meadows Burrards (2-1). Caleb Pearson notched the winner 4:37 into the third period.
In other results Thursday, the Burrards defeated Juan De Fuca Whalers of Esquimalt 10-4. Results were not available by press time for the evening matchup between the two 0-3 Vancouver Island teams, Juan de Fuca and Saanich.
The top four teams move on to semifinals Saturday night.
The Prince George Posse begins play in the A2 midget provincial tournament today at 10:30 a.m. at Kin 1 against Kamloops, folowed by a 5:30 p.m. game against Coquitlam. The B and C tournaments also start today at the Kin Centre.
