The midget A2 New Westminster Salmonbellies capped an improbable march to the B.C. lacrosse provincial championships with a silver medal. The A2s, who began the season in the midget B division, narrowly lost their final game of the season 8-7 to unbeaten Semiahmoo in the gold-medal final in Port Coquitlam on Sunday.
New Westminster was moved up to A2 after six games in the B division. After 12 regular season games in the upper league, plus tournament, playdowns and provincial matches, the 'Bellies fashioned a solid 24-6-2 record this season.
"It doesn't happen very often when you move up to make it to the gold-medal game," said New Westminster coach Stu Watson. "I'm very proud of them. They're a good group of kids."
New West lost 6-3 to Semiahmoo earlier in the provincial round robin, when penalties came into play.
But in the division final, the midget boys held two-goal leads on three separate occasions, including a 7-5 advantage heading into the final period.
New Westminster also showed its stuff against Coquitlam, the No. 2 team during the regular season.
After a narrow 3-2 loss in the opening game of the provincials, New West snuck into the championship final with a 7-6 win over the A2 Adanacs.
Damon Prince led the Royal City crew with a hat trick in the semifinal win.
Frank Darby added a pair of goals, while Alex Moe and Dylan Sharp both had single markers.
Cameron Molesworth was named to the all-star team, and Scott Wooley was the team's fair play winner.
New Westminster's A1 team was not as lucky, failing to advance to the championship round.
Sam Stevens was named New Westminster's A1 fair play winner.
