After putting the wraps on their 42nd consecutive victory, the Westwood Pub Devils got their chance to celebrate another perfect season Thursday night on the Kin 1 arena floor.
They wrapped up their second-straight Prince George Senior Lacrosse Association championship with a 12-5 win over the BX Pub Bandits, sweeping the final series in three games.
For Devils forward Scott Anderson, who finished the game with three goals and two assists and was picked as the playoff MVP, Thursday's outcome was predictable. But when the Bandits took an early lead he knew his team had to step up its efforts to pull off the victory.
Pierce Watson picked up three goals and an assist, Danton Nicholson had two goals and four assists, Evan Dustolal had a two-goal effort, and Blake McIntosh and Nathaniel McFayden fired singles for the Devils.
Cole Paciejewski had a four-point night with a goal and three assists, while Steven Kidwell, Drew Doig, Damon Calfa and Matt Rochon, on loan from the Cowboy Ranch Stylers, also scored for the Bandits.
The game ended with 9:09 left to play when Bandits forward Kidwell suffered a serious knee injury in an altercation with Westwood's Shane Adams. An ambulance had to be called to take Kidwell to hospital.
"It's kind of crappy to end a game like that," said Anderson. "I coached Steven for years and he's a good kid."
After two seasons of dominance, it's premature to call it a Devils' dynasty, but the defending B.C. senior C champions are showing no weak links in their plan to bring home another provincial banner when they put their title on the line Aug. 7-9 in Armstrong.
Devils manager Chris Scott has been at the helm for the Devils since the start of last season and is the architect of the rebuilding project that brought the team back into contention after years of residing near the bottom of the standings.
"At the beginning of the year Chris puts up a plan of what he expects from us commitment-wise and we have some veterans that back him up on that and the young guys buy into it and you can see by our turnouts," said Anderson. "Every team has 25 guys but we're probably the most consistent team to show up to play and that pays off in the end. There's good players on all these teams but when you're playing 15 against 10 you can just wear teams down."
At 47, Anderson keeps himself fit in his day job as a letter carrier for Canada Post and has the lacrosse skills to excel in the senior C league. He moved to offence for the playoffs from his usual spot on defence and led all playoff scorers with 17 goals and 16 assists for 33 points in just six games.
"All I can attribute that to is playing with a bunch of guys who make me look good," said Anderson. "Every time I pass the ball it's guys like Pierce and Danton and everybody on the team who put the ball in the net. You could have picked five guys on our team to be playoff MVP."
Westwood opened the series Monday with a 15-4 win and defeated the Bandits 13-6 in Game 2 on Wednesday. The Devils also defeated the Northland Nissan Assault in three games in a best-of-five semifinal series.
"We never really expect to have the success we do," said McIntosh. "It's difficult to understand why the other teams may not be getting the numbers and that definitely played a role in the outcome of some of the games."
The Devils' streak dates back to their undefeated 2014 season when they went 24-0. This season they won all 12 regular-season games and six playoff games.
The final series for the Dale Rolufs Memorial Trophy was supposed to be a best-of-seven affair but was shortened to a best-of-five. The Bandits made that request after learning they would be without the services of six Prince George Posse midget callups who helped them fill the lineup in the playoffs.
The midgets are now resting up for the A2 provincial tournament which starts next Friday at the Kin Centre. According to league commissioner Glen (Moose) Scott, the fact several Bandits players are away fighting forest fires would have left them with just seven players for a scheduled Game 4 on Monday. In addition to Rochon, the Bandits picked up Brandin Daychief form the Stylers and PGSLA rookie of the year Bryston Waffle from the Quesnel Employment Services Crossfire for Thursday's game. Both teams and league agreed to bend the rules on the roster deadline to allow the late additions to make the game more competitive.
John Makowsky of the Assault was selected for the Helen McIntosh Memorial Award as the most valuable player in the PGSLA. Makowsky, who finished second to Matt Rochon of the Cowboy Ranch Stylers in league scoring with 33 goals and 66 points in 12 games, is also one of the top defensive players. He topped the list in a poll of the five league teams. Devils goalie Jamie Bellamy was picked for the Ed Conway Award as top goaltender, Ryan Waddington of the Bandits was the R.C. Adams Glass top defensive player.
