The New Westminster Salmonbellies celebrated the prospect of an 11-day break with a victorious trip to Nanaimo on Sunday beating the hometown Timbermen 11-5 to solidify their playoff hopes.
They are fourth in the Western Lacrosse League standings with a 5-4-1 record and are four points clear of fifth-place Nanaimo (3-6-1) for the final playoff spot in the seven-team league.
The Salmonbellies do not play tonight (Thursday), the team’s usual home game night. Their next match is against Maple Ridge next Thursday (July 6) at Queen’s Park Arena (7:30 p.m.). New West has eight games remaining.
“There’s never a good time for an 11-day break,” said Salmonbellies head coach Steve Goodwin. “Actually, Sunday night was our best game of the season, with the players we had, we were short one player, but there was great work ethic, they did a lot of good things and then all of a sudden no games for 11 days, that’s tough for a coach.”
The win followed a split with the last-place Langley Thunder last week. The ’Bellies beat the Thunder 8-7 in Langley on Wednesday, but then the next night lost to the same squad 8-6 at Queen’s Park Arena, Langley’s first win of the season.
Goodwin lamented that loss made the difference between New West being fourth or tied for first Monday morning.
“There’s more parity than I can remember, and I’ve been around this league a long time. Not just among the four teams (Victoria, Maple Ridge, Burnaby and New West) but the six or seven teams there’s a lot of parity in the league.”
Despite the parity, Goodwin admitted the loss to Langley on home floor stung, but he was also philosophical about the defeat.
“You have to go through tough times before you get to the good times. But we really responded (Sunday). I was so elated,” said Goodwin. “That just shows that we have some depth and that’s what you need to win championships.”
The Salmonbellies’ first goal is to secure a playoff spot. Doesn’t matter what position, as long as it’s top four. To win a WLA title they’ll have to go through two tough teams.
On Sunday, New West jumped out to a 5-1 lead after one period and extended it to 9-3 after two. The ’Bellies top point getter was Sean Tyrell with four, which included three assists. Logan Schuss and Curtis Hodgson each scored twice with other goals coming from Brandon Goodwin, Shayne Bennett, Jakob Doucet and Zach Herreweyers, who added two assists.
All three of the T-men’s goals came with a Salmonbellie sitting in the penalty box. Nanaimo was 3-for-6 on the power play while New West was scoreless in its five opportunities.
At the Langley Events Centre on Wednesday, Daniel McQuade, a New West native, tied the game at 7-7 for the Salmonbellies by scoring on a set up from Joel McCready at 13:15. McCready then got the winner at 13:37.
But the next night at Queen’s Park, it was the last-place Thunder scoring the only three goals of the third period for an 8-6 victory. It was Langley’s first win of the season.
McCready ended up with three goals and four points in Langley. He had two goals and an assist in New West. McQuade, Justin Goodwin, Mitch Jones and Herreweyers had a goal and an assist each Wednesday. Logan Schuss scored the other ’Bellies marker. Tyrell pocketed three assists. J.P. Kealey had two goals and five points for the Thunder.
On Thursday, Herreweyers had a goal and an assist. Other Salmonbellies snipes came from the sticks of Goodwin, Jones and Austin Jerhoff. While Kealey had three points (1-2), it was James Rahe doing the damage for the Thunder striking for five goals and adding an assist as Langley connected on five of nine power plays. The Thunder were 2-for-5 Wednesday, while New West was 1-for-8 combined in the two games.
