The Westwood Pub Devils quest for a threepeat is still intact.
They made sure of that Thursday night at Kin 1, defeating the pesky RPR Mechanical/JR Construction Bandits 10-6 to win the best-of-three semifinal series 2-1.
The Devils now advance to the best-of-five league championship series against the Northland Nissan Assault, which starts Tuesday at Kin 1. The Devils are two-time defending Prince George Senior Lacrosse Association champions.
Four goals from Jake McIntosh and a two-goal, four-assist performance from PGSLA scoring champion Andrew Schwab did most of the damage for the Westwood boys.
Jackson Parish, with two goals and two assists, and Cole Paciejewski, who finished with three goals and an assist, led the Bandits' cause.
The Bandits, who won Game 2 10-7 last week to keep their season alive, scored first. Paciejewski collected his first goal of the series 1:43 into the game, but the lead was short-lived. Goals from Kyler Boucher and McIntosh six minutes apart put the Devils ahead by the 12-minute mark and Westwood continued to find the net late in the period. Danton Nicholson's underhanded shot in tight made it 3-1 on a Devils' power-play and McIntosh unleashed a screamer from the top of the circle in the final minute that found the net behind Dalen Etter.
Trailing by three, the Bandits didn't get mad. They got even.
Drew Doig triggered their comeback 18 seconds into the second period with a low bouncer that got through the armour of goalie Steven Brizan. Then Parish was fed a perfect pass from Justin Parker while standing just off the post and he whipped it into the net.
The Bandits made it 4-4 just past the halfway point of the period, scoring seconds after Devils d-man Scotty Anderson was sent to the penalty box. Paciejewski hooked up on a pretty three-way play with Parish and Patrick Griffiths.
Westwood tested Etter with several quality shots before Anderson atoned for his transgression to set up the go-ahead goal. The 52-year-old showed some hustle to force Griffiths to cough up the ball and fed a pass to Schwab. He dished the ball to David Lawrence, who filed it away into the net with less than five minutes left in the period.
Twenty-four seconds later, on a fast-break entry, McIntosh showed his athleticism with a behind-the-back shot in over Etter's shoulder. Schwab made it a 7-4 count with a shot through the legs in the final minute of the period.
Paciejewski cut the gap to 7-5 to complete the hat trick early in the third period but the McIntosh and Schwab continued the fireworks display to pad the lead to four.
Shots were 49-42 in favour of the Devils.
