Luke Gillespie made his former team wince on Tuesday, scoring three times to lead his Maple Ridge Burrards past the New Westminster Salmonbellies 11-10 in Game 3 of their semifinal series.
Gillespie broke a 4-4 tie in the second period with back-to-back powerplay tallies and gave the Burrards some temporary relief from a battle where momentum was mostly dealt out in one-goal servings.
The winning goal, however, didn’t hit the back of the net until late in the third when Ben McIntosh buried his second of the night with 2:13 remaining.
With the victory, Maple Ridge has a 2-1 lead in the Western Lacrosse Association playoff series.
Game 4 goes Thursday, 7:30 p.m. at Queen’s Park Arena, while Game 5 is slated for Saturday in Maple Ridge.
Although New West never led, during the first 40 minutes they matched the Burrards goal for goal, with Tony Tremblay notching his first of 2017 to tie it at 4-4 midway through the contest.
Cue Gillespie – a lefthander who New West drafted fourth overall in 2015 and flipped to Maple Ridge a year later for that draft’s fourth overall pick. His twin strikes, part of a three-goal game, along with McIntosh’s first, gave the home team a 7-4 edge.
New West pulled back within a goal in the third, thanks to a three-goal run, but fell short of the equalizer. They made it close with 19 seconds left on Kevin Crowley’s marker with the goalie pulled.
Mitch Jones led all 'Bellies shooters with three goals and two assists, while New West junior call-up Connor Robinson counted a pair. Picking up a goal and two assists each were Justin Goodwin and Crowley, with singles by Justin Goodwin and Anthony Malcom.
