NLL Insider

WLA

WLA: Playoff teams all but set

With the regular season wrapping up this month, it looks like the Top 4 teams are all but set for the Western Lacrosse Association (WLA) 2008 playoffs.

New Westminster (12-1) and Coquitlam (11-3) have clinched playoff tickets. The two met in the WLA final last year, with Coquitlam sweeping the Bellies in four-straight games after New West had won all three regular season meetings.

In ‘08, New West won the first two meetings between the clubs, but Coquitlam won the last regular season meeting 7-6 in overtime. READ MORE »

WLA

WLA: Burrards look to stop surging Lakers

The Western Lacrosse Association (WLA) schedule is highlighted this week with the Maple Ridge Burrards visiting the Burnaby Lakers on Friday night. Victoria also hosts a key game against New Westminster tonight. Both games are scheduled to start at 7:45pm PST.

“Friday is a big game against Maple Ridge, it will be a four pointer,” adds Burnaby GM Paul Rowbotham. “They are nipping at our heels for that fourth and final playoff spot.”

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WLA

WLA: No Change

In the Western Lacrosse Association (WLA), the same four teams - New Westminster, Coquitlam, Victoria and Burnaby -have sat at the top of the standings since the season started back in the middle of May.

The Coquitlam Adanacs pulled off a 7-6 OT victory over first place New Westminster last Sunday and will look to continue their winning ways against two clubs on the rise, looking to crack into that top four set. Nanaimo and Maple Ridge sit in fifth and sixth-place out West, respectively, four and five points back of Burnaby.

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WLA

WLA: Fight for playoff seeds

The New Westminster Salmonbellies (10-0) continue to roll through the Western Lacrosse Association (WLA). They remain the only undefeated team in the country and a top the CLA Power Rankings. But Shanny says don’t be surprised if they drop a game this week.

The Salmonbellies won last week with close wins over Coquitlam and Burnaby by scores of 10-8 and 8-7 respectively. They play just one game this week - in Coquitlam. It’s the third and final meeting between the WLA’s top two teams this regular season.

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WLA

New West and Victoria eke out wins

Two games in the Western Lacrosse Association last night, each one ending in a narrow 8-7 final.

The Victoria Shamrocks edged out the Langley Thunder, with Teddy Jenner scoring the game-winner with less than three minutes remaining. Other Victoria goals were scored by Jamie Roy (2), Ryder Bateman, George Westwood, Kyle Morwick, Curt Morwick, and Nolan Heavenor. Aaron Bold made 38 saves in the win. The Shamrocks were without leading scorer Lewis Ratcliff. Jamie Lincoln had two goals and one helper in the loss.

In other WLA action the New Westminster Salmonbellies stayed perfect with their 8-7 win over the Burnaby Lakers. Jordan McBride snapped in three goals and added an assist to lead the Salmonbellies, while Kerry Susheski’s three goals and two helpers kept the Lakers close. Ron Schibild had 36 saves in the win.

THURSDAY, JUNE 19th
New Westminster Salmonbellies 10 Coquitlam Adanacs 8

B.C. Junior A

THURSDAY, JUNE 19th
Burnaby Lakers 5 South Fraser Stickmen 4

NLL Insider, WLA

Take Your Mind to the Gym

Well the west sure just got a lot more interesting now didn’t it? As Shanny stated in his CLA rankings, just when you thought the west was a three team race, everything changes and you have no idea how it happened. Trust me, I can’t explain it either. If I could I’m sure my Victoria Shamrocks would be at the top rather than fighting our way back up!

But the world of lacrosse is filled with peaks and valleys and it comes down to how you deal with them. Chris Hall always used to say ‘what’s next, what’s next, what’s next!?’ We used to joke about it when he said it but now I’m starting to realize that he wasn’t just emphasizing the fact that you have control of what happens, but he was also forcing us to remember that what has happened has happened and you can’t do anything about it. You have to forget about the last play and move on to the next. Get back to the face-off circle and do what you have to do for the team. READ MORE »

WLA

WLA: Salmonbellies continue to roll

New Westminster (8-0) remains undefeated this season with wins last weekend over Maple Ridge (2-5) and a one goal victory over Nanaimo (1-7-1). They’ll host Coquitlam (6-2) in a rematch of last year’s WLA final match-up, this Thursday in New West.

The Salmonbellies will host a Family BBQ before the Coquitlam game, one of three planned BBQs for the season. They then hit the wooden floor for a 7:45 PM start.

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WLA

Maple Ridge tops Nanaimo

It was a battle of the one-win teams last night in the WLA and with a 14-9 win over the Nanaimo Timbermen, the Maple Ridge Burrards got their second win of the season.

The Burrards 9-3 lead in the first was good enough to get them the win after being outscored 6-5 in the second and third. Reese Baillie had three goals in the all-important first period, finishing the game with five points after adding two assists. Peter Tellis had two goals and three assists, while Randy Daly and Derek Lowe had one goal and two helpers each. Garrett Kikot had three goals for the Timbermen, and Kaleb Toth had two goals and five helpers.

Saturday, June 14th

Burnaby Lakers 9 Coquitlam Adanacs 6 The suddenly surging Burnaby Lakers got big games out of Cam Sedgwick (3g 1a) and Andrew Leyshon (45 saves) to top the second place Adanacs and improve to 3-4 on the season.
New Westminster Salmonbellies 9 Nanaimo Timbermen 8 The top team in the league narrowly edged out the bottom, with Jamie Floris (2g 3a) scoring the game winner with three and a half minutes remaining to keep the Salmonbellies undefeated.

Friday, June 13th

Burnaby Lakers 9 Victoria Shamrocks 5 Not only was this the Shamrocks’ third loss in a row, it was also the third game in which they’ve been unable to score more than five. Taking a look at the bright side, it sounds like Teddy Jenner had a pretty goal.

WLA

WLA: Nanaimo needing wins

Last weekend, both New West (6-0) and Coquitlam (6-1) defeated previously undefeated Victoria (4-2) by respective scores of 7-5 and 8-5. As Shanny mentioned in his weekly CLA Power Rankings, however, Victoria’s top scorer was absent from the line-up with MLL commitments. New West, Coquitlam and Victoria remain the teams to beat this season.

Langley (2-4), Burnaby (1-4-1), Maple Ridge (1-4) and Nanaimo (0-5-1) all remain within three points of each other for the fourth and final playoff spot out West. And Nanaimo knows they need wins this weekend if they hope to make the playoffs again.

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B.C. Junior A, RMLL, WLA

B.C. and Alberta results

The Coquitlam Jr. Adanacs moved into sole possession of first place in B.C. Junior A last night with a 7-6 win over the Victoria Shamrocks. Outscoring Victoria 7-4 through the first two periods paid off for the Adanacs, as the Shamrocks were the only team to hit the back of the net in the third. Garrett McIntosh, Jordan Weir and Scott DeFrancesco each scored twice in the win. In his first game back with the Shamrocks, Michael Pires had three goals and three assists.

The New Westminster Jr. Salmonbellies found their ninth win of the season last night, tripping up the Delta Islanders 9-4. Kyle Belton led the Bellies with three goals and one assist, while Jesse Fehr chipped in with one goal and two helpers. Sean Tessarolo stopped 25 of 29. Dane Stevens had one goal and one assist for the Islanders.

In Senior A the Coquitlam Adanacs turned a 3-0 lead in the first into an 8-5 final as they topped the Victoria Shamrocks to slip into second place with a record of 6-1. Jason Wulder and rookie Dane Dobbie put in two goals and two assists each to lead the Adanacs while Ryder Bateman had one goal and two helpers for the Shamrocks. Chris Levis made 36 saves for the win.

A little further east the Edmonton Eclipse kept their perfect record intact, moving to 5-0 on the season after eking out a 5-4 win over the Calgary Jr. Raiders. Kyle Kowalchuk put in a big performance between the pipes to earn the win, while Sean Reid and Eric Ransome scored two each and Derek Draper added the fifth.

WLA

New West stays undefeated, hands Victoria first loss

The two unbeaten teams of the WLA battled last night, with the New Westminster Salmonbellies edging out the Victoria Shamrocks 7-5. A four-goal second period sealed up the win for the Salmonbellies. With the win the Salmonbellies solidify their first place position with a record of 6-0.

Ilija Gajic and Darren McEwen had two goals each for New West, while Pete McFetridge had one goal and two helpers. Tyler Richards made 38 saves. Kelly Hall led the Shamrocks with three points. Nick Patterson stopped 36 of 43 and was named second star of the game while New West goalie Richards was awarded first. Victoria returns to the floor tonight vs. the Coquitlam Adanacs, whose record of 5-1 is currently good enough for second in the league, just ahead of Victoria’s 4-1.

Elsewhere, the Burnaby Lakers beat up on the Nanaimo Timbermen 13-6. Cam Sedgwick scored three, Calvin Craig and Mark Hodsdon had two each and Rory McDade pitched in with five assists. Garrett Kikot led the Timbermen with two goals and one helper.

Major Series Lacrosse, WLA

K-W downs Brampton & other Senior A results

After clinging to a lead for the first two periods, the K-W Kodiaks managed to hold off a Brampton Excelsiors comeback on the strength of a pair of goals from Kevin Ross. His last-minute regulation marker sent the game to overtime where he scored the game-winner with six minutes remaining. Mike Flemming had the insurance goal with 20 seconds left.

Ross had four goals and two assists on the night, Flemming and Ryan Benesch had one and two each, and Jamie Rooney, Dylan Llord and Rob Marshall had one goal and one helper apiece. Aaron Wilson had a natural hat trick for the Excelsiors while Colin Doyle had one goal and five helpers. The Kodiaks are now the only undefeated team remaining in MSL.

Elsewhere in Ontario, the Peterborough Lakers raised the 2007 Mann Cup banner and then went on to dump the Six Nations chiefs 18-8. Scott Evans had two goals and seven assists, Cory Vittarelli had three and three and John Grant had four goals and one helper. Craig Point notched four goals for the Chiefs.

In the third MSL game of the night the Barrie Lakeshores downed the Brooklin Redmen 11-8.

In BC last night the New Westminster Salmonbellies stayed unbeaten with a 10-4 win over the Langley Thunder. Chris Gill, Jordan McBride and Pete McFetridge scored two each in the win. Tyler Richards made 29 saves. Graedon Cornfield had two goals for the Thunder.

Major Series Lacrosse, WLA

Coquitlam and Brooklin win close ones in Sr.

It wasn’t easy, but a five-goal third period with a game-winner scored in the final five minutes of regulation earned the Coquitlam Adanacs a 9-8 comeback win over the Langley Thunder last night. With the win the Adanacs improve to 5-1, while the Langley Thunder fall to 2-3.

Tim Campeau led the Adanacs with two goals and two assists, while Jason Wulder and Steve McKinlay had two goals and one helper each. Dane Reelie had the unassisted game-winner. Brandon Atherton and the Adanacs defense kept the Thunder quiet in the third, limiting them to just one goal. Tom Johnson led Langley with three goals.

Langley is back in action tonight vs. the undefeated New Westminster Salmonbellies. Up next for the Adanacs is another undefeated team: they’ll face off with the Victoria Shamrocks Saturday night.

With time ticking down in regulation and the score tied 11-11 it looked like the Brooklin Redmen had earned an overtime period against the Six Nations Chiefs after battling back from a few big deficits, trailing 5-0 to start the game and 9-6 after the second. Apparently Derek Suddons had other plans.

With less than 30 seconds remaining the Chiefs yanked Ken Montour from his spot between the pipes in favour of an extra attacker, setting up one final scoring attempt. In a move straight out of a made-for-TV movie, Suddons scooped up the looseball after the unsuccessful Chiefs attempt and shot from just past half to bury the game winning goal in the empty Six Nations net with one second left on the clock.

Jason Mainer and Steve Hutchins had three goals each for the Redmen, including two from Mainer and one from Hutchins in the pivotal third period. Shawn Williams had one goal and four helpers. Dean Hill had four goals and two assists for the Chiefs.

WLA

WLA: Top teams clash this weekend

A quick Western Lacrosse Association (WLA) up-date shows three teams tied with four wins a top the standings - the New Westminster Salmonbellies (4-0), Victoria Shamrocks (4-0) and Coquitlam Adanacs (4-1). That should make for some great lacrosse this weekend.

Undefeated teams New Westminster and Victoria play on the island this Friday. Victoria will also battle at Coquitlam on Saturday.

Prior to those big games, the young Langley Thunder (2-2) will also get an opportunity to prove themselves. The Thunder, who currently sit in fourth place out West, host Coquitlam on Wednesday and battle at New West on Thursday.

All aforementioned games are scheduled to start at 7:45pm PST. 

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WLA

Thunder looking for Draft Picks to deliver

The Langley Thunder (2-2) used the 2008 WLA Entry Draft to pick up five players in the first two rounds, including Garrett Billings, Mike Grimes and Jamie Lincoln - three players who went to the Minto Cup finals last year with Junior ‘A’ Burnaby Lakers. They are just a few of the good young players Langley has picked up in recent drafts.

“Building around the draft gives us an opportunity to create lifetime Thunder players,” stated Thunder co head coach Gerry Van Beek. “We love the players we traded for but the players we’ve drafted over the last three years are our foundation.”

“The rookies have been great, a couple are performing better than we anticipated,” added Van Beek on the play of his first year players. “Grimes, (John) Lintz and (Eric) Lamothe are all cornerstones of our defense. (Gradeon) Cornfield and (Aaron) Pascas are contributing a couple of points every game. Billings has only played one game so far but we know what he can do.”

READ MORE »

WLA

Q&A with New Westminster enforcer Bubba Westwood

It’s not easy for a first-year player to make his mark in the always-competitive Western Lacrosse Association. There are a few tried and true ways of getting over the rookie jitters, however. Scoring a first goal, or celebrating a first win, maybe dropping the gloves with Langley Thunder heavyweight Matt Green off the opening face-off in a pre-season game. Wait, what? Welcome to Bubba Westwood’s world. The New Westminster Salmonbellies’ defender discusses what goes on before a fight, what goes on after, and who the one player is that you’ll never see him square off with.

So why the name Bubba? Not a big Clint Eastwood fan?
No, my dad is though! READ MORE »

WLA

Six-goal first period gives New West fourth win

The Sr. A New Westminster Salmonbellies stayed perfect with a convincing 8-3 win over the Nanaimo Timbermen last night, inching into the shared top spot in the WLA. Both the Bellies and the Victoria Shamrocks currently boast a record of 4-0.

The Bellies got the early jump on the Timbermen, slipping six goals past goaltender Matt King to go up 6-1 in the first and then maintaining that five goal lead for the next forty minutes. Tyler Crompton and Chris Gill had two goals apiece while Darren McEwan added one goal and two helpers and Tyler Richards made 35 saves. Mike Morrison had one goal and two assists for the Timbermen. King made 30 saves in the loss, with half of those saves coming in the first period where he faced a total of 21 shots.

WLA

Western Lacrosse Association (WLA) up-date

In Western Lacrosse Association (WLA) action, Victoria looks to be back to its old form after an off year in 2007. The Victoria Shamrocks (4-0) and the New Westminster Salmonbellies (3-0) have both been perfect out of the gate.

Lewis Ratcliff (10g, 12a) is tearing it up. He now has 10 goals and 22 points in four games played and leads the league in scoring. Shamrock teammates Ryder Bateman (6g, 9a) and Kelly Hall (4g, 10a) also sit Top 4 in league scoring, while Tyler Heavenor (5g, 3a) sits fourth in team scoring.

READ MORE »

B.C. Junior A, WLA

Langley, New West Sr. and New West Jr. win in BC

It was a night of lopsided victories in British Columbia as the Langley Thunder stomped the Nanaimo Timbermen 19-8, the Sr. New Westminster Salmonbellies dropped the Coquitlam Adanacs 12-7, and the Jr. New Westminster Salmonbellies rolled over the Delta Islanders 15-5.

In the Langley-Nanaimo game, Tom Johnson had four goals and two assists for the Thunder, Rob Buchan had one goal and seven helpers, and Josh Joseph and Justin Norbraten chipped in two goals and three assists each. Scott Ranger had four goals for the Timbermen.

Over at the Coquitlam Sports Centre, Ian Hawksbee had one goal and five helpers to lead the Salmonbellies in points, while Jamie Floris had three goals and two assists and Chris Gill had two and three. For the Adanacs, Jason Wulder put up five points.

In BC Junior A action, Delta Islanders keeper Steve Bourget faced a Salmonbelly onslaught, making 37 saves in the two periods he played prior to being relieved of goaltending duties. It wasn’t enough to keep the Islanders in the game, however, as they dropped the 15-5 decision. Kevin Crowley and Alex Turner led the New West offense with five points apiece. New West goaltender Neil Tyacke made 25 stops. For the Islanders, Robbie Campbell had two goals and one assist. A total of 181 penalty minutes were assessed, with New West’s Adam Foss taking home the tightly contested title of most penalized player of the game with 24 minutes.

WLA

Shamrocks win third straight, Adanacs win second

It was an ugly affair that included 97 minutes in penalties, but the Victoria Shamrocks remained unbeaten with an 8-6 win over the Maple Ridge Burrards last night.

Nick Patterson made 46 saves, Kelly Hall drilled in three goals and two assists, and Lewis Ratcliff and Ryder Bateman added two goals and two helpers apiece. Derek Lowe led Maple Ridge with three goals.

• Shamrocks improve to 3-0: C-FAX 1070
• New GM has ‘Rocks on a roll: Victoria Times

In other WLA action, the Coquitlam Adanacs improved to 2-0 on the season by besting the Burnaby Lakers 12-9. Rookie Dane Dobbie contributed three goals and two assists, while Peter Veltman added one and five, and Tim Campeau and Jarret Davis had four points each. For the Lakers, Ian Paterson had three goals and two assists.