Put a fork in it.
A season loaded with such promise, and one which appeared to be framed with the potential of a long run, came to a disappointing end Wednesday when the Maple Ridge Burrards stopped the New Westminster Salmonbellies 11-10 at Queen's Park Arena.
Having demonstrated during the year the ability to corral momentum in their favour, thanks to a 14-game unbeaten streak, New West proved unable to replicate a similar string in the playoffs. With the win Maple Ridge collars a 4-1 semifinal victory and advances to the Western Lacrosse Association final.
On the strength of five unanswered third period goals, Maple Ridge erased a dominating second-period run by the Bellies and looked confident in the process, thanks to a huge performance by the team's defence, led by netminder and former junior Salmonbellie Frank Scigliano.
Down 10-6 after 40 minutes, the Burrards meticulously chipped away at New West's lead -- which itself was built on a powerful six-goal explosion in the middle frame -- with Ben McIntosh counting the final two to turn the tables.
Credit Maple Ridge with resilience and the ability to raise their game when adversity threw them a curve.
"When ever we looked down, we battled on. It was a good series," said first-year Burrards head coach Rob Williams. "(New West) has a good young team and had a couple of junior callups who played exceptional for them. Every game was close."
The Burnaby native and one-time Vancouver Ravens defensive standout took over from Chris Gill in the off-season after spending eight seasons as the club's defensive coach.
His first season behind the bench has featured plenty of interesting twists -- including the league governors trying to slap the Maple Ridge organization with a hefty performance bond -- but if anything it all helped bond the club together, he noted.
"When we were going through the bond issue and everything else, our captain Aaron Davis was the most mature, responsible individual in the room. He got us through that adversity," said Williams.
On Wednesday, the adversity came in the second period. Tied 3-3 after 20 minutes, Maple Ridge caught fire briefly and took a 6-4 advantage, only to witness a strong Bellies' attack surge with six straight tallies. As the teams took to the floor for the third, all New West needed was to protect the lead -- bend and not break.
But the Burrards flexed their transition skills and ability to get to the crease, and for the second game in a row created a goal on a turnover behind the New West net. In the span of 4:47, Maple Ridge had pulled within a goal, thanks to a pair of markers from Matt Symes.
After McIntosh deadlocked the game with 12:53 remaining, the Bellies were granted a crucial powerplay in which to reverse the Burrards' momentum. But the visitors virtually owned the ball during New West's extra-man opportunity, and McIntosh delivered the dagger at 10:41 of the third.
New West applied some pressure in search of the equalizer but came away frustrated. Scigliano made 33 saves on the night.
From Williams' viewpoint, the key moment wasn't the third-period penalty kill, but a situation in the middle frame that actually ended up costing them a goal. Veteran Jarrett Davis took on New West's Quinn McKay after a teammate was felled by a hard check into the boards, and ended up drawing a five-minute instigator penalty as well as a game misconduct. The Bellies were able to up its lead to 10-6 at the time, but it set the stage for a united response over the final 20 minutes.
"Actually I felt when our assistant captain (Jarrett Davis) stuck up for his teammate when he got run into the boards, I think it just turned there. Even with the penalties, when we killed the penalties, I'm always confident with our players -- especially our goaltending. Our penalty killers are older, more mature guys and (Scigliano) in my opinion is the best in the league," noted Williams.
New West got three goals and two assists from MItch Jones, while Justin Goodwin tallied twice. Also scoring were Anthony Malcom, with a goal and three assists, and singles by Brett Dobray, Curtis Hodgson, Jordan McBride and McKay.
For Maple Ridge, Connor Goodwin counted a goal and four helpers.
The Burrards, who finished the regular season in third place, three points back of the Bellies, now await the winner of the Burnaby-Victoria semifinal.
Here is the story following Game 4:
For a species in distress, salmon would know something about going against the odds.
The ones that survive from fry-hood to smolt-dom and leave for the great ocean voyage, to return to the river they came from, have ran an Olympic-cycle gamut.
What lays ahead for the New Westminster Salmonbellies – wholly dependent upon what happened Wednesday night (past the Record’s deadline) at the hands of the Maple Ridge Burrards in Game 5 of their Western Lacrosse Association semifinal showdown – is a trifle in comparison.
But the Bellies are showing signs of distress, too. Coming on the heels of Monday’s disappointing 10-9 loss in Maple Ridge, which put the Bellies down 3-1 in the series and on the brink of elimination, there were many questions.
For a team that went 14 games without a loss, after starting the season 0-3, a mere three-game run should be child’s play – right?
“It’s a matter of executing. I know the players are upset and the coaches are upset, but we’re not throwing in the towel,” remarked New West president and general manager Dan Richardson after Monday’s setback. “They have a good team. We ran off 14 games without a loss in the regular season so there’s no reason we can’t swing a couple here to get back in the series and win it. That’s the attitude we’re taking.”
Giving up the first three goals set an early tone in Game 4. The Bellies trailed 6-1 fifteen minutes into the contest but recovered to make a game of it by outscoring Maple Ridge 3-1 in the second frame. The club’s three-goal run began with Mitch Jones’ second of the night, and continued even after the lefthander was tossed four minutes later for an illegal check.
Early in the third, Jordan McBride pulled New West within a goal but the Burrards’ Owen Barker converted a breakaway, followed by Riley Loewen’s shorthanded tally off a turn over behind the Bellies net.
The two teams traded goals and a late surge, where McBride scored his second of the night with an extra attacker, kept it within reach. But as in last week’s 13-9 loss in Game 1, the gap couldn’t be bridged.
The Burrards’ Frank Scigliano made 43 saves, while Eric Penney was equally as sharp in New West’s net, turning aside 48 shots. Dane Sorensen, Jones and McBride scored two goals apiece in the loss, while the Burrards got hat tricks from Dan Taylor and Loewen.
“We’ve played well the last two games in here. We had a bad start tonight and had some bad breaks the other night when we had a lead. We’re just going home and trying to get a win in our own barn,” said Richardson.
If the season falls short, a lot could be drawn from the flatfooted start on Monday.
“We’ve had two real bad periods in this series – one in our home barn (in Game 1) and (Game 4). You can’t dig yourself a hole like we did,” he noted. “We need the intensity level that we saw after (Jones) got tossed with five minutes to go in the second.”
Down 3-1 in the series, urgency is likely a big part of the game plan. They need to replicate last Saturday’s rally which saw them erase a 5-3 deficit with six straight goals en route to a 9-7 win. Brandon Goodwin, Anthony Malcom, Connor Robinson and Jones each counted twice in the win.
But everything hinges on the result Wednesday night.
A win will force Game 6, to be played Saturday in Maple Ridge. A seventh game, if necessary, will go Aug. 22 at Queen’s Park.
