Curtis Dickson put an end to a two-hour, 52-minute playoff marathon on Sunday, lifting the Maple Ridge Burrards past the New Westminster Salmonbellies 12-11 in double-overtime in Western Lacrosse Association semifinal play.
Maple Ridge holds a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series, which continues Tuesday, 7:30 p.m. at Queen's Park Arena.
A game of big momentum shifts, New West created an impressive lead during the first 27 minutes, up 5-1 after the first period, and ahead 7-2 seven minutes into the middle frame.
But 25 seconds after Mitch Jones counted his second of the period, a powerplay marker, to make it 7-2 for the visitoris, the home team began it's rally on Ryan Keenan's extra-man strike. It was the first of five straight for Maple Ridge, to knot the game at 7-7. The 'Bellies reclaimed the lead before the end of the period on Austin Shanks' goal.
In the third, the Burrards again got on a roll with three goals before the eight-minute mark to lead 10-8. Showing their own rallying skills, New West would force overtime with Jones, with his fourth of the night, and Jordan McBride, to lock it in at 10-10 after 60 minutes.
In the 10-minute overtime session, the Burrards jumped ahead 11-10 on Dane Dobbie's third of the game, on a long set-up pass from netminder Frank Scigliano, at 4:40 of the frame. Shanks' hat trick tally, 1:10 later, would force the decision into sudden death.
Both netminders faced a lot of rubber, with Scigliano turning aside 61 shots, including 18 by Jones and 15 from Shanks. New West's Alexis Buque kicked out 58 shots, with Dickson racking up a team-high 15 shots.
The series continues with Game 4 on Tuesday, while Game 5 is slated for Thursday (Aug. 8) in Maple Ridge. Game 6, if necessary, would be played Saturday (Aug. 10) at Queen's Park Arena. All games start at 7:30 p.m.