If the New Westminster Salmonbellies’ game Thursday had been a boxing match, they would have likely won on the judge’s scorecards.
The senior A ’Bellies outscored the Victoria Shamrocks in both the first and last periods, but lost on the scoresheet 9-7 at Queen’s Park Arena.
The Salmonbellies caught the ’Rocks early, scoring on their first three shots of the game on Victoria keeper Matt Flindell, including the first two of three by Martin Cummings.
Jordan McBride also had a hat trick for the home team, giving New West a 4-3 lead late in the first period on a nice goal in close off a nifty setup by Eric Lewthwaite. McBride led all scorers with a game-high six points.
But the second period proved the Salmonbellies’ undoing, giving up five straight goals before Colton Clark got one back on the power play with about a minute left in the period.
Alexis Buque got his first home start in goal and made 35 saves in the loss. Buque was also victimized on two short-handed counters in the middle-period letdown.
“There were a lot of weird calls … a lot of weird bounces and they weren’t going our way, and we didn’t get the shots we wanted,” said McBride.
To their credit, New Westminster hung in and played some of its best lacrosse in the final period, scoring goals by Cummings and McBride to shave the deficit to a single digit early in the final frame.
But Hass managed to get a second one by Buque and give Victoria a two-goal bulge before both teams played out the remaining 15 minutes without another goal being scored.
Despite its 2-2 league record, New Westminster has outscored the opposition in the third period in every game so far.
“Yeah, it’s definitely a good stat for us to have. It’s hard work and shows our level of fitness a little bit,” added McBride. “We have a lot of young bucks who are just figuring it out. I think we’ll be a good team down the stretch. I know this team is a good team, we’re right in the mix.”
The loss left New West in a tie with Maple Ridge for fourth place just two points behind Burnaby and Langley, which share second spot. Victoria currently leads the loop with an unbeaten 4-0-1 record.
New West takes on Maple Ridge this Thursday at Queen’s Park Arena. Game time is 7:45 p.m.
