The Westwood Pub Devils' undefeated streak is history.
After reeling off 41 straight Prince George Senior Lacrosse Association wins dating back to the start of the 2014 season, the Devils' date with destiny arrived Saturday night at Rolling Mix Concrete Arena.
They got clipped 10-8 by the Claude's Barbershop/BX Pub Bandits in a ferocious battle of two previously unbeaten teams. In a game that got vicious at times, the Bandits built a comfortable cushion early and hung on for a rough ride when the Devils made a late charge to try to get back into the game.
Rookie goalie Jonathon Wittmeier, a sleeper 11th overall pick in the third round of the 2016 midget draft, made 45 saves to give the Bandits what they needed to finally defeat their nemesis, offering a bit of payback to the team which swept them in the league championship playoff series last year.
Cole Paciejewski was a scoring threat all game for the Bandits. What he lacks in stature he makes up for in skillful deception when he gets the ball on his stick anywhere close to the net and on Saturday he was rewarded with a game-high four goals and three assists.
"It's really sweet – we've been waiting for that for a few years now and it was a big one for Prince George, now that we knocked down the Number 1 team I think it's going to be really good for the league," said Paciejewski.
"The key was having more guys. We had a lot of close games with them last year but come the third period we would kind of run out of gas because we were so short-manned. Today, having 15 players helped us a lot and Jon in net made some big stops."
Wittmeier was at his best in the second period and made some crucial saves while the Bandits were short two men while trying to kill off a nine-minute penalty after Ryan Waddington got tossed for a nasty cross-check to the back of Devils player Adam Wagner. The Devils unleashed a barrage of rubber but Wittmeier stopped them all, keeping his team ahead 7-5.
Not long after the Bandits returned to full strength, Paciejewski scored back-to-back goals. He fought off a check in tight traffic for his third of the game, then scored his fourth of the night after accepting Wittmeier's long breakaway pass, which he finished with a perfect shot to elude Devils goalie Steven Brizan. That was the second of two assists for Wittmeier.
Westwood outshot the Bandits 53-32.
"It was a pretty big game for a rookie – they had a lot of good shots, but he stood tall all game," said Bandits captain Drew Doig. "We ate the ball pretty well for that nine minutes, kept them chasing us, kept them tired. It's a pretty physical game any time we play them and it's just good we can compete with them now."
The win left the Bandits (4-0) alone in first place, two points ahead of the Devils (3-1).
Travis Paciejewski, Cole's 24-year-old brother, and Damon Calfa each scored two goals for the Bandits. Dan Martin also scored, as did Jesse Huffman, who also had five assists.
Montgomery Jones and Brian Horning each collected three goals and one assist to lead the Devils' attack and Asahel Beaudet fired a pair of goals.
"They're a good team, we always knew they were the second-best in the league and I guess now we've got something to prove," said Jones. "Their goalie was unreal, we had so many chances."
Players on both teams were left welts and bruises and the odd cut to deal with after a game punctuated by deliberate hacks, a few punches and plenty of crunching hits – some legal, some not so.
"It was a really good game, honestly I think it got a little more violent because of all the penalties that were being called," said Jones. "A lot of the time you can self-monitor and if you don't be idiots to them they won't be idiots to us and the games are really clean. But when the refs start calling both sides like crazy there's a lot of four-on-four or four-on-three or three-on-three and you get tired and lazy and that's when you see guys that never get injured getting dropped."
In other PGSLA action Saturday, the Northland Nissan Assault beat the Cowboy Ranch Stylers 17-9. It was the first win of the season for the Assault (1-2), who crept closer to the third-place Stylers (2-2). John MacNeil led the Assault with six goals and also had two assists. Rookie Cameron Prouse had a four-goal, two-assist game and Davey Jenkins collected three goals and four assists. Mat Rochon and rookie Doug Porter spiced the Stylers' offence, each with four goals.
The Quesnel M. Daniels Consulting Crossfire (1-3) also celebrated their first win of the season, a 13-8 triumph over the Mackenzie Lumberjacks (0-3). Dylan Cathcart, Levi Robertson, Chase Ballendine and Jakob Schweb each scored twice for the Crossfire. Samuel Peet had three goals and Jared Peet scored a pair for the Lumberjacks.
