There will be no Minto memories for the New Westminster junior Salmonbellies.
The junior A ’Bellies lost Game 7 of the B.C. Junior Lacrosse League best-of-seven playoff final 12-8 by the Coquitlam Adanacs at Queen’s Park Arena on Sunday.
New West made it clear to The Record that suspensions handed out following the Salmonbellies’ win in Game 4 played a role in the eventual outcome of the series.
But there was no disputing what the difference was in the final and deciding game before a hyped-up crowd of more than 1,500 fans at Queen’s Park.
Wesley Berg, the concensus junior A player of the year and the inaugural winner of the Jack Crosby Trophy as the B.C. playoff MVP, scored five goals and added an assist on Evan Wortley’s eventual game-winner early in the third period.
“He put the team on his back and great players can do that,” said New Westminster head coach Dan Perreault after the game. “He’s an outstanding ball player. I’m not surprised he did that.”
What was surprising was the turnaround from New West’s 13-6 victory in Game 6 in Coquitlam on Friday.
In that game, the visiting Salmonbellies jumped out to a 7-2 lead after the opening period and Ontario pickup Eric Penney did the rest, stopping 45 shots, including 19 in the final frame, to chalk up his second straight win of the series.
But it was Coquitlam that got the fast start on Sunday, going up 5-1, following Berg’s shorthanded marker midway through the period.
Team scoring leader Eli McLaughlin potted his first of two minutes later. Berg and Tyler Pace, with a back-to-back pair, closed out the period with three in a three-minute span.
New West closed the deficit to two goals with an early second-period flurry from Josh Byrne, Justin Goodwin and Anthony Malcom’s second of the game.
Connor Robinson also gave the home team a chance to come back with a diving shot from the left crease at the time buzzer to shave the gap to 7-5 late in the middle frame.
But a third rally was not to be in a series that the Adanacs have dominated the scoreboard in the final period in all but the opening game.
“It’s disappointing,” said Perreault, who won three consecutive Minto Cups as a player with Burnaby Cablevision in the 1970s but has yet to win a Canadian junior title as a coach. “It’s the seventh game, the winner moves on to compete for the Minto Cup, right there it’s disappointing.”
But it became abundantly clear by the start of the third period that Berg was playing like it was his game to win.”
The University of Denver NCAA Division I all-star opened the third period with his fourth goal and then gave the A’s a four-goal cushion five minutes later.
But Berg also got help from his back end.
Coquitlam dominated the loose balls and held New West’s transition runners in check. On defence, the A’s also limited the ’Bellies shooters to a single shot, while in goal Pete Dubenski was solid when he need to be, stopping 30 Salmonbellie shots on goal. Penney had just 27 saves for New West.
“It wasn’t for a lack of effort. We made mistakes tonight and (Coquitlam) turned them into goals,” Perreault. “But (New Wesst) is a good, hard working group.
“They worked their tails off all year and did everything we asked of them. I’m proud of the effort they put out. But they didn’t get rewarded.”
That reward, if any, awaits the Coquitlam Adanacs, who will now face the Calgary Mountaineers in a best-of-five playoff, with the winner advancing the Minto Cup in Langley at the Events Centre, beginning Aug. 16.
