It’s the power of the stick which propels a winning streak.
The New Westminster junior A Salmonbellies are riding a wave thanks to the hot starts for a trio of snipers.
The squad improved to 3-2 on Tuesday behind a 13-9 victory over the fiesty Langley Thunder.
Jumping out to a 4-0 lead in the first, New West looked poised to run away with the B.C. Junior A Lacrosse League contest before the Thunder struck back.
Although they never tied it, the Valley rival pulled within two goals in both the first and second periods before the Bellies pulled away.
The landslide start, which saw New West cash in three goals in 1:19, including a pair of powerplay goals, was erased over the rest of the period as Langley found its footing.
The Bellies entered the second frame up 6-4 and pushed it to a four-goal lead only to see the Thunder cut that in half for the final 20 minutes.
Connor Robinson’s third goal of the night kick-started another four-goal run and set the tone to lock up the game.
Robinson also counted three assists, while fellow snipers Adam Dickson, with two goals and four assists, and Johnny Pearson, with two goals and three helpers, were front-and-centre in the offensive parade.
Also contributing two goals each were Colton Bykowsky, Carter Dickson and Dalton Lupul. Laiton Manuel turned aside 37 shots.
New West, which dropped its first two games of the year by a combined 22-19 score, have won three straight with Adam Dickson, Robinson and Pearson in the lineup. The three have lit up opposing goalies by the tune of 26 goals and 24 assists in those games, including a six-goal effort by Pearson in Saturday’s 13-10 win over Victoria.
Against Victoria, netminder Erik Kratz stood on his head in blocking 38 shots as New West rallied from a 6-5 deficit and broke open an 8-8 game with a four-goal run.
The 3-2 Bellies visit Nanaimo on Saturday, and host PoCo on Tuesday, 8 p.m. at Queen’s Park.
