The season series between the junior A New Westminster Salmonbellies and the Coquitlam Adanacs will be settled on Friday.
New West missed a chance to put the junior A's on notice, falling 8-7 to the No. 1-ranked Coquitlam club at Queen's Park Arena last Saturday.
With Cody Nass and Eli McLaughlin in the lineup following a blockbuster B.C. Junior Lacrosse League deal made just the day before, New West was forced to play " catchup for all but a three-mina ute span in the o first period.
The two former Delta Islander snipers showed their skills early in the loss.
Nass set up Josh Byrne from behind the net on a first-period power play. Nass collected three helpers in his Queen's Park debut.
Less than two minutes later, McLaughlin registered his first goal as a 'Bellie, firing a ball past Davide DiRuscio off a screen in front.
Connor Robinson gave the home team a momentary 3-2 lead 16 seconds later, but Coquitlam regained the lead with two counters later in the period.
The Adanacs kept the pressure on through the next two periods, scoring first in both the second and third frames despite a disparity in shots on goal.
The second period was particularly well played with a high degree of skill and pace on display.
The Salmonbellies outshot Coquitlam 24-15 in the middle frame and 21-13 in the third, but split both periods 2-2 on the scoresheet.
New West outshot the A's 63-43 overall, but DiRuscio was equal to the task, getting in the way of 56 Salmonbellie shots.
Frank Scigliano made 35 stops in the New West cage.
"We try to put as many shots on goal. You got to keep him moving," said Salmonbellie defender Dylan Long, who scored his first junior A goal in three seasons midway through the final frame to close the gap to 7-6.
Big goals by Vincent Ricci in the second period and Steven Neufeld, with his hat-trick marker in the third, gave the A's pivotal two-goal leads.
Earlier in the season, New West bested Coquitlam 10-8 at home.
The series clincher will be played this Friday at the Poirier Street centre. With Coquitlam at full strength and further bolstered by trade deadline deals with Burnaby, Nanaimo and Port Coquitlam, the junior Adanacs will be a formidable opponent this week and into the playoffs.
"All the teams going forward are going to have their sticks fine tuned," said Long. "We know where the bar is set - one more game and that's it."
Friday's game in Coquitlam is scheduled to start at 7: 30 p.m.
Falling into place
The junior A New Westminster club got quickly back in the win column on Sunday with a 17-5 win over the visiting Nanaimo Timbermen at Queen's Park Arena.
Josh Byrne and Eli McLaughlin both counted four goals in the win, while Cody Nass had five assists for his new club.
Drew House also had a goal and four helpers in his first game back with the junior 'Bellies.
Ross Bowman got the win in goal for the 'Bellies, making 32 saves, including nine in a 6-0 third-period shutout.
New West scored twice from Daniel Perreault and Jeremy Bosher in the opening minute of play.
