It was more a torrential outburst than a mere early-season lacrosse game.
You could excuse the netminders charged with facing rubber if they thought they were in an Avengers: Infinity Warmovie re-enactment.
The New Westminster Salmonbellies and Delta Islanders matched hammer and anvil on Tuesday, with the’Bellies emerging as 12-10 victors only after a 10-minute overtime period.
If it’s a sign that the B.C. Junior A Lacrosse League is entering a year of parity, fans can only say “Bring it on.”
The two teams combined for 121 shots over 70 minutes, with New West leveling 64 of those at Delta keepers Roman Rose and Brody Harris. The latter stepped in and was almost Thanos-like in repelling the ’Bellies attack. Newest ’Bellie and former Islander sniper Tre Leclaire was particularly stymied on the night, but got the last laugh when he sniped the game-winner three minutes into the extra session on a patience play just off the crease.
“Their goalie stood on his head today, he made some amazing saves on a couple of us. At the end I just held on a little longer and just waited until he dropped down and put it in,” said Leclaire, who was acquired by New West in a trade two months ago.
The 19 year old has played three games for New West, making the adjustment to a new team and new linemates with steady progress. He scored twice Tuesday and now has seven over three games.
Carter Dickson led the attack with four goals and two helpers, while Will Malcolm registered a hat trick.
It was a virtual shooting gallery during the first 40 minutes, with the clubs trading goals and rolls. After Delta erased a three-goal deficit to tie it up 6-6, the two squads began a one-for-one run that hit a bump when New West started the third period with markers from Erik Maas and Dickson.
At that point, both squads tightened up the free-range flow that had prevailed over the first two periods, with shooters getting few fast breaks and less real estate near the high slot. The ’Bellies backline, anchored by Dalton Lupul, Jake Stott and Ryan Wilkinson, put up a deflector shield-like wall that held the Islanders at bay; at the other end, New West was getting the same kind of rejection in the Islanders zone.
Yet, New West goalie Erik Kratz and Delta’s Harris kept busy, piling up the saves and cooling the offensive tsunami to a minor hurricane.
Tallies by Jake Canton and Haiden Dickson, the latter with Delta’s goalie on the bench and just three seconds left in the game, forced overtime, leading to Leclaire’s game winner.
“(Harris) I’ve got to say, he played a damn good game,” noted New West coach Rich Catton. “He made some saves he had no business making. He played fantastic but we kept on him though, we were persistent and kept getting our looks and we got a couple in the end.”
It followed New West’s 13-10 win over Nanaimo, where Dickson racked up four goals and three assists, and Leclaire knotted a hat trick.
The ’Bellies own a 4-0 record and head to PoCo to play the Saints on Friday. Their next home test comes against the defending B.C. champion Coquitlam Adanacs on Tuesday, 8 p.m. at Queen’s Park Arena.
