Lacrosse
Islanders Surprise Adanac’s
Coquitlam got a scare from the underdog Delta Islanders in BCJALL action in game one of the final series to see who will advance against Alberta.
Cole Schaefer scored with 1:53 left in regulation time breaking a 8-8 deadlock giving the Adanacs a 9-8 series opening win taking game one in the best of seven finals.
Delta Islanders “tender” Ryland Hood played exceptional making 48 saves on the night where the series heads to game two Saturday in Delta at the Leisure Centre.
Some in the lacrosse circles thought it would be a “cakewalk” for the Adanac’s and after the opening period things did not look good for the visiting Islanders.
The opening period saw the Adanacs open with four straight goals in a span of 4:56 off the sticks of Schafer, Cloutier, MacIntyre and Magnuson giving Coquitlam the early lead.
The Islanders did manage to score twice to get back into the game on goals from Spencer Bromley and Evan Messenger cutting the deficit to 4-2.
Rounding out the first saw Schaefer get his second of the night with one from Rogers making it a 6-2 at intermission, while the shots were 22-16 for the Adanacs.
In the second period the Islanders had a strong period scoring four times making things interesting for the defending BC Junior A Lacrosse champions.
The Islanders offence was from Tre LeClaire with a pair of goals and singles to Brad Hoffman and Jordan Gillies and the lone Adanacs goal was scored by Jean-Luc Chetner.
A third period surge by the Islanders as they tied the game at 7-7 on a goal by Chase Fraser’s, then the momentum changed as Jean-Luc Chetner put the Adanacs up 8-7 midway through the final period, giving the Adanacs a 8-7 lead.
The Islanders rebounded and tied the game at eight as Fraser (second of the night) with under 6 minutes remaining in regulation time.
Too little too late as the Adanacs got the game winner from Cole Schaefer with under two minutes remaining giving his club a 9-8 lead.
Delta pressed for the game tying goal but were denied by Adanacs goalkeeper Christian Del Bianco as he was forced to make at least three game saving saves to preserve the Coquitlam win.
Shots in the game were 57-33 for Coquitlam on the night as Rylan Hood finished the game with 48 saves off the Adanacs shooters and Del Bianco 25 saves between the pipes.
This marks the first time since 2012 the clubs have met in the finals the last time the Islanders fell in five games to the Adanacs for the league title.
for the full schedule of the league finals got the league website www.bcjall.com. for all the games and times.