The Alberta Mountaineers did something no Alberta junior A team had done in the past 10 years – beat a West Coast team.
The Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League champions eked out a 9-8 win over B.C. champion Coquitlam Adanacs in a best-of-five Western regional final on Saturday at the Coquitlam Sports Centre.
New Westminster’s Connor Goodwin, who was picked up for the playoffs by the Mountaineers from the Port Coquitlam Saints earlier this season, assisted on three goals in the historic win.
Calgary lost its first two games of the Minto Cup-qualifying playdowns 14-7 and 13-6 to the Adanacs.
Jordan Kanscal backstopped the win for the Mountaineers, making 39 saves in goal and sporting a .830 save percentage.
Tyler Pace led all scorers with four goals and three assists for the A’s, while Dan Taylor and Spencer Gelinas had two goals each for the Mountaineers.
Jordan Felker had the eventual game-winning goal for Calgary, scoring at the 13:48 mark of the third period from Taylor to give Alberta club a 9-6 lead.
The Mountaineers were knocked out of the best-of-five regional series final on Sunday, but not before giving Coquitlam everything it could handle for a second straight night. Calgary lost 7-6 to the A's in Game 4.
Goodwin scored two goals on Sunday, finishing the western final with a total of four goals and seven assists.
Coquitlam moves on to the Minto Cup against the Ontario junior A champion Six Nations Arrows who beat the defending Canadian champions Whitby Warriors in four straight games.
The Minto Cup will be played at the Langley Events Centre from Aug. 15 to 24.
