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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.”
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 »
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
A solid lead in the first paid off in the end as the New Westminster Salmonbellies defeated the Burnaby Lakers 9-6 last night at Queens Park Arena. With each team scoring five goals in the second and third periods, it was New West’s 4-1 start to the game that locked up their second win of the season. Burnaby falls to 0-2.
New West got a one goal four assist effort from Jordan McBride, four assists from Cory Melville and two goals apiece from Jamie Floris and Darren McEwen. Four of the nine New West goals came on the powerplay. Tyler Richards turned away 46 of 52 shots.
For the Lakers, Kerry Susheski had two goals and one assist, and Chris Manwaring, Jeff Buchanan and Rory McDade contributed two points each.
Burnaby is back in action tonight against the Coquitlam Adanacs. The Victoria Shamrocks and Maple Ridge Burrards will also face off at 7:45 PST.
With the WLA already more than a week deep and the MSL ready to kick-off their season this weekend, a number of high profile players are still being linked to a number of rumours that will likely see them switching teams in the near future.
As NLL Insider reported a couple weeks back, it still doesn’t appear that New Westminster Salmonbellies’ forward Athan Iannucci has officially made a move to the East, whether that be to St. Regis or one of a number of other Ontario based clubs that have apparently shown interest in the NLL MVP.
The Cornwall Standard reported today that Iannucci is still on the Indians’ radar and that a potential signing is still being discussed but is not yet finalized. The paper also reports that Steve Toll, Pat Maddalena, Peter Jacobs, Joe Hall and Lee Thomas have all committed to St. Regis this year, joining a cast that already sports players like John Tavares, Kevin Dostie, Brett Bucktooth and keeper Mike Thompson. READ MORE »
There was a shaky start to it — a 6-6 tie halfway through the second period — but in the end Joel Weber got into the Coquitlam net, blocked 19 of 20, and the Adanacs got the win that was expected, a 16-7 victory over the South Fraser Stickmen that pushes them into first place with a 6-1 record.
Scott DeFrancesco led the Adanacs with five goals and four assists while Jordan Weir added three goals and Jarrett Davis scored one and helped on seven. Mitch Dibblee had three goals and two assists for the Stickmen. With the loss the Stickmen fall to 0-9.
Elsewhere in British Columbia lacrosse, the Victoria Shamrocks handed a home opening loss to the Langley Thunder, 11-9. With the win the Shamrocks improve to 2-0.
Langley got the early jump, going up 3-0 to start the game but the Shamrocks battled back with five straight goals and kept it close until almost halfway into the third when Ryder Bateman and Lewis Ratcliff teamed up to score three goals in just over one minute and put the game just out of reach.
Ratcliff had four goals and three assists overall, Bateman had three and two, and Kelly Hall, Teddy Jenner, Luke Hinton and Tyler Heavenor had three points apiece. Nick Patterson — last week’s WLA player of the week — held the Thunder to three goals in the pivotal third period, stopping 15 of 18. Tom Johnson led Langley with two goals and two assists.
Photo credit: Gary Woodburn
NLL Insider has learned that recent reports out of BC that have Athan Iannucci signing a deal with the MSL’s St. Regis Indians are very much premature.
Iannucci, who it still New Westminster Salmonbellies property, has reportedly been approached by a number of Ontario based teams, but the Philadelphia Wings’ sniper has still apparently not signed with anyone as yesterday’s reports indicated.
Although sources say it is very likely that Iannucci will be signing with an eastern based club in the next while, NLL Insider learned first hand that yesterday’s article on BCLocalNews.com jumped the gun when they announced that Iannucci had already swapped sweaters.
Although St. Regis does appear to be one of the clubs interested in Iannucci, there have been no contracts signed with them or anyone else in the MSL as of Monday night.
There’s a bunch of questions that won’t be answered for a while yet, but that won’t keep the Western Lacrosse Association from kicking off its 2008 season this weekend.
And even before the Nanaimo Timbermen open on the road against the Maple Ridge Burrards in the season’s first tilt on Sunday evening, there’s all kinds of talk that the Langley Thunder could be the surprise of the season with some of the drafting they’ve done, along with an early candidate for top rookie in Garrett Billings, who’s one of the leading scorers trying to lead the University of Virginia to an NCAA title this spring (photo courtesy of University of Virginia). Still, ya can’t write of the defending champion Adanacs from Coquitlam, or the Salmonbellies of New Westminster. The Burnaby Lakers are in a lot of conversations too, and the Victoria Shamrox will be looking for ways to win without Dan Dawson, who is back in Ontario to run with Brampton.
No one’s counting eggs before they hatch just yet, especially Andy Ogilvie, the new coach in Coquitlam. “The ducks aren’t in place for us yet,” Ogilvie tells the Vancouver Sun. “It will be a little bit before our full roster is set. We have to find out who is coming back and who we’ll be keeping. It might take until June.”
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