For the second straight year the College Heights Pub Assault swept their rivals off the floor in the championship series.
The Assault beat the BX Pub Bandits 17-13 Monday night to wrap up a four-game sweep of the best-of-seven final in the Prince George Senior Lacrosse Association to claim the Dale Rolufs Memorial Championship trophy.
Dave Jenkins Jr. had five goals and an assist for the Assault while Damon Calfa showed his offensive prowess for the Bandits with eight goals and an assist. Assault captain Clarke Anderson received the MVP of the playoffs award.
"It's a lot better knowing we can do it two years in a row and the first year we just didn't get lucky and this kind of proves it for us," said Anderson. "It shows the depth of our team for sure with everyone contributing every single night."
It was a disappointing result for the Bandits, who were the regular season champs with a 13-2 record, but the two losses came at the hands of the Assault. The Assault (12-3) finished second in the regular season and are 10-1 against their rivals dating back to the 2011 final.
"They just keep playing better and better every time we play them and we just can't keep up," said Calfa. "We have our core guys that come out and play but we just can't beat them."
The teams combined for a flurry of goals in the opening 10 minutes with the Assault notching five and the Bandits coming through with four. The scoring slowed slightly in the final half of the period which ended with the Assault ahead 8-6.
Drew Doig opened the scoring for the Bandits in the first minute of play but it didn't take long for the Assault to take the lead as Jenkins potted two of his five first period goals.
Nathaniel McFayden gave the Assault a 3-1 advantage with a power-play goal and captain Anderson made it 4-1 when the ball dribbled between the legs of Jamie Thorne in the Bandits' net.
The Bandits responded with a pair of goals to pull within one at 4-3 from Doig and Calfa. In the next phase of the game, Jenkins scored twice for the Assault sandwiching a goal by the Bandits Tyler Halliday. A pair of Calfa goals evened the game for the Bandits at 6-6.
Jenkins scored his fifth goal of the period for the Assault and Craig Dunfield joined the offensive action before the period was over.
The Assault picked up where they left off to start the second period as John Makowsky and McFayden extended their club's lead to 10-6. Calfa scored his fourth of the game for the Bandits but Chad Martin added a pair for the Assault to bring the score to 12-7. After Ryan Waddington pulled the Bandits within four goals, Makowsky picked up his second goal and fifth point of the night.
The Assault's 13th goal also chased Thorne from the Bandits' net as Jamie Bellamy replaced him.
Dom Sia showed some hustle and welcomed Bellamy to the game with the Assault's 14th goal.
Calfa wrapped up the period with three goals to reduce the Bandits deficit to three at 14-11.
Late in the second period the Assault lost Brady Davis who was in considerable pain as two teammates carried him off the floor with a lower right leg injury.
Two quick goals in the third period for the Bandits brought them within one at 14-13 but the Assault added a pair of goals to pad their lead at 16-13 as Russill Mills continued his strong play in the Assault net. Craig Dunfield added a late goal to secure the victory for the Assault.
