The New Westminster Salmonbellies ran their near-perfect league record to 19-1-0 following a season sweep over Coquitlam on Wednesday.
The junior A Salmonbellies defeated the Adanacs 7-5 at the Coquitlam Sports Centre to extend their winning streak to 14 games without a loss.
Rocky Bowman showed up for the final regular season matchup between the two B.C. Junior Lacrosse League powerhouses, blanking the A’s for all but three seconds in the opening period.
Bowman backed up the victory with 40 saves in the low-scoring contest.
Luke Gillespie opened the scoring for the visitors with two unassisted transition goals early in the first period.
Johnny Pearson notched his 42nd goal of the season to give New West a 3-0 lead later in the frame.
Anthony Malcom also collected a pair of goals, including his first of the season on the power play.
“Sweeping (Coquitlam) in the series is huge,” said Malcom, who scored the go-ahead and eventual game-winning goals for New West. “We have faith we have the squad. We want to get back to when we were sweeping teams and get our swagger back.”
Alex Bohl ensured New West the win, scoring one-on-one on a breakaway midway through the final frame to re-establish a two-goal advantage.
With the win, New West moved five points up on the runner-up Adanacs.
Moving into the final weekend, playoff partners are still to be determined, but it is looking more like the Salmonbellies’ first-round opponent will be the Delta Islanders.
New Westminster will close out the regular season at Queen’s Park Arena on Sunday against the Victoria Shamrocks at 5 p.m.
