BC Junior A Lacrosse League

News

Round 2 Underway

July 15, 2009

After taking the first round best-of-three series against Delta in two games outscoring the Islanders 22-13, the Burnaby Lakers took on the top team in the BCJALL as their opponent for round two. Coquitlam hadn't played a competitive game for ten days before Wednesday night, and while Burnaby was hoping their first round action would keep them at a steady pace, the Adanacs took the time off to focus and rest up their roster. After being presented the BC Junior A League Championship trophy for their impressive 20-1 season, the A's finally took the floor and got their feet wet in the post season. Just a couple of minutes in, it seemed the first round was useful to the Lakers as they jumped out quick with goals from Shawn Dhaliwal and Riley Loewen; but it wasn't long before the A's got back into character and answer back with four unanswered goals. Surprisingly enough the first penalties of the game weren't called until the second half of the first period when Jordan Weir and Mike King would get called simultaneously for roughing, and at that point the game was starting to heat up, both on the floor and in the stands. Trevor Moore would round out scoring for the Adanacs in the first when he used his experience to trick his defender and managed to get the ball past Ray Hodgkinson from way outside the shooting circle. In what looked to be a blowout lead for the A's, Burnaby made a late period comeback taking advantage of some miscommunication in the Adanac end as Loewen scored again- this time unassisted on a giveaway, and Blake Mattinson put Burnaby's fourth on the board as his check bailed going for a loose ball on the boards.
Adanac Ben McIntosh* fights his way through to the net as Laker defender Ross Dougan makes a last ditch attempt to stop him.*		League Leading point getter Robert Church* drives to the net taking a shot from Laker defender Luke Domijan. Church was left off the point sheet, a very rare occasion this year.*

Down by two goals to start the second, Burnaby would come out swinging with two goals from Chris Macey who not only narrowed the lead for the A's, but also drew a cross checking penalty on his second marker giving his team hope to stay in it. Just as they did in the first, Coquitlam would almost taunt the Lakers and let them enjoy the first couple of minutes of the period before burying a couple of goals and building back their lead. Ben McIntosh and Travis Cornwall, were both set up beautifully for their mid-period goals; and Corbyn Tao would make the last five seconds of the period count after a quick time out and a wonderfully executed set-play to end the second with the A's up 9-6. Tensions had been relatively high for the whole game, with extra attention paid to the mid-first, and mid-third periods, and in the final twenty minutes there were 46 PIM's delt to the A's, and 27 to the Lakers. After a couple of coincidental penalties, all hell broke loose with ten minutes to go as Laker Chris Macey took exception to some choice words from the A's bench, and took it upon himself to go onto the bench to respond. Before you knew it everyone on the floor had a partner, and heavy punches were being dealt out between everyone. My third eye is coming along about as fast as my third arm so I couldn't keep track of all the happenings, but judging from the frantic scribbling by the referees in between sending players to the box and the dressing room, there was no shortage of shenanigans. When all was said and done the teams were designated to play 5 on 5, much to the frustration of the Burnaby fans. Each team would score two goals in the third period including a power play goal from Chase Clark for Burnaby, and a short handed goal from McIntosh for the A's, but it seemed the grunt work was done in the first period by the A's, taking them to the final score of 11-8.

BBY#77 - Burnaby Laker forward Shaun Dhaliwal drives a shot over Coquitlam defender Brandon Turner (Coq#44) en route to leading the Lakers in points on the night with four.		Coquitlam forward Ben McIntosh* with Laker defenders all over him scores on Burnaby tender Ray Hodgkinson, arguably one of the top goalies in the league.*

Usually in a game such as this, the components that stand out are goaltending or an offensive domination. What I found to be the most impressive at Wednesday's game in Coquitlam was the passing, setups, and assists leading up to the goals and big saves. There were at least four goals from both teams tonight I could barely recollect because the setup was so impressive. The vision of teammates now knowing exactly where their counterparts are on the floor is what makes the post season so desirable for fans. Burnaby should be happy that regular season points leader Robert Church was held off the scoresheet tonight despite his seven shots on Hodgkinson; but when it comes down to it the Lakers know that their opponents (for at least the next two games) don't have to rely on individuals to win games. This was a good start to what should be an interesting series against a team who has a rich history of leading this league and is now playing from the bottom up, competing against a team who completely dominated the league this season; sure makes sixty minutes go by fast!