The New Westminster Senior A Salmonbellies are a step closer to their goal of vying for their 25th Mann Cup.
The Bellies earned a spot in the Western Lacrosse Association final after sweeping their best-of-five semi-final match-up against the Victoria Shamrocks. The Salmonbellies clinched the series with a 10-8 win over the Shamrocks on Wednesday night at Queen’s Park Arena.
Starting Wednesday, Aug. 16, the Salmonbellies will take on the Langley Thunder in the best-of- seven WLA finals.
The Bellies and the Thunder battled for the top spot in the WLA throughout the regular season, with the Bellies tallying two more points than the Thunder. During regular-season play, Langley won the first two games against the Salmonbellies (9-7 and 13-5) and New West won the final regular season game 15-13.
“Both teams are stacked with NLL players, including their goalies and top scorers,” said an update on the Salmonbellies’ website.
Langley advanced to the finals after defeating the Nanaimo Timbermen 9-6 Thursday night, winning their first-round series three games to one.
Tickets for Game 1 (Wednesday Aug. 16) and Game 3 (Sunday, Aug. 20) at Queen’s Park Arena are now on sale online and are also available at the gate. Other home games, if needed, are scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 24 and Tuesday, Aug. 29.
The Salmonbellies will head to the Langley Events Centre for Game 2 on Friday, Aug. 18. If needed, other games in Langley are scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 22 and Saturday, Aug. 26.
All games begin at 7:30 p.m.
The winner of the WLA finals will host the Major Series Lacrosse champion and compete for the Mann Cup in September.
To finance what they hope will be a run for the Mann Cup, the New Westminster Senior A Salmonbellies have launched a Feed the Fish fundraiser. As of Aug. 10, the campaign had raised $5,791 raised of $20,000 goal.
