Quinn Waddington had the tying goal in the pocket of his stick.
Until he got pickpocketed by Carson Michaud, the man behind the mask for the Port Moody Express.
The robbery won’t show up on any police blotter but it became painfully obvious to Waddington and the rest of his Ladner Pioneers that Michaud’s cross-crease shoulder shrug in the last minute was the reason the Treasure Cove Casino Challenge Cup/B.C. senior C lacrosse championship Sunday afternoon at Kin 1 did not require overtime to decide.
The Express hung on to win 9-8 and were handed the Fred Doig Championship Trophy as senior C champs for the eighth time in the past nine years.
“We’ve been here a lot of times and we’re used to winning and we expect to win and it’s all about team bonding – they hang out together and they all stick up for each other,” said Express head coach Rick Meng. “We just worked hard. At 5-1 I thought the game was over and then all of sudden it was 6-5 and give (the Pioneers) credit, they were one of the best teams in our league this year.”
For half the game it did look like the rout was on. The Express scored two goals before the game was a minute old. Port Moody captain Cam Comeau got lucky 36 seconds in when his pass attempt deflected off the cage of a Ladner defender standing just outside the crease and in it went past goalie Allan Maclucas. Fifteen seconds later, Justin Thomas took a pass behind enemy lines and had tons of time to put the deke on Maclucas.
Port Moody led 3-1 in the second period when Rob Minni and Thomas each scored on the power play before Comeau threaded the needle from 20 yards out to increase the gap to 6-1. With youth on their side against an older Port Moody team, the Pioneer spirit refused to lag and Travis Blanchini, on a floor-length rush, and Eric Dufresne, with a close shot in tight traffic, gave Ladner life, down 6-3 after two periods.
“We knew they weren’t going to let up easy, Ladner came in hot this whole tournament, 5-0 just like us, and we knew they were going to bring it,” said the 25-year-old Michaud. “It helped take the pressure off when we got those two quick goals right away. This is my first year with the team but they’ve won eight of the last nine and all the experience showed. We didn’t panic. When they made it 6-5 I knew I had to make that one at the end. I just put everything into it and I’m happy I got it.”
The Pioneers peppered Michaud with sustained pressure midway through the third period and it paid off when Waddington and Ryan Chan each found the net to make it a two-goal game with five minutes to play. Waddington, a former UNBC student, set up Dufresne for his second of the game with 1:22 left and after getting pasted into the end boards with a dangerous-looking hit, Waddington returned from the bench and with his wicked right-handed shot just about tied it while standing just off the post.
“I thought I had a little hole there but it didn’t quite work,” said Waddington.
Three of the six Express goals came on power plays.
“It took a little while for us to get our heads back into the game and I thought five-on-five we were the better team, but penalties cost us,” said Waddington. “In a low-scoring game you can’t give up power-play goals. We didn’t do so well in our (West Central Lacrosse League) playoffs but we had a good run here and unfortunately came up a little short.”
The Express lost just four of 18 regular-season games to finish second but got knocked out early in the WCLL playoffs. Their win Sunday more than made up for that. Comeau, the Port Moody captain and a former Vancouver Burrard, has been with the Express for 10 years and now has eight provincial titles to show for it.
“We’re full value for these wins, we work hard all season long, it’s not by accident,” said the 38-year-old Comeau. “We’re well-coached, we have a Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Famer behind our bench (Meng) and from the experience he has all the way down to our young guys, we came to Prince George expecting a sweep and we got it.
“We just worked our tails off and played our best game this season against an undefeated Airdrie team and then we worked so hard against that Ladner team which had a gritty comeback. We’re getting younger here and I love to see us continue to win titles.”
