A furious start set the tone, and some tight, gritty defence down the stretch put in the puncuation mark as the New Westminster Salmonbellies stopped the Maple Ridge Burrards 12-6 on Tuesday.
It moved New West within a point of locking down first place, which would also guarantee the ’Bellies a first-round match up against those same Burrards.
Mitch Jones got the hat trick out of the way early, counting the game’s first three goals as the visitors stung Maple Ridge with a 6-0 outburst in the first 20 minutes.
Although the Burrards would twice cut the deficit to within three goals, New West managed to respond and put the brakes to any extended comeback effort.
“We’re doing things that are conducive for winning at the end of the season, and I think we did that for the most part,” remarked ’Bellies coach Rory McDade. “There was a little blip in the second period, but we recovered well and played hard.”
The first period outburst, which saw New West take a 3-0 lead by the 5:15 mark, included three powerplay tallies.
Because Maple Ridge has a reputation as a physical and imposing opponent, especially on their own floor, no one was surprised by the tone of the game. If the two meet in the first round, more of the same is expected.
“It’s always a tough game here. They battle hard, they’ve got a real good team and a team that gives it every night. We knew that coming in and I think we responded well,” said McDade, noting that the absence of the Burrards’ top scorer, Curtis Dickson, was also a factor.
Dickson was out of the lineup after representing Canada at last week’s FIL world field lacrosse championships in Israel, where the U.S. squeaked out a controversial win in the final.
Jones finished with a game-high three goals and four assists in Tuesday's victory, while Logan Schuss, who leads the league scoring race with 95 points, counted a goal and five helpers. Chipping in with a pair of goals and twin assists was Jordan McBride, while Sean Tyrell scored once and set up three others.
Rounding out New West’s scoring were Lyndon Bunio, Jakob Doucet, Brandon Goodwin, Jason Jones and Mike Messenger.
Being as it was their final game of the regular season, the Burrards assured themselves of a first round match-up against the regular season champion – and New West needs just a single point over their final two games to clinch that honour. They would also secure first if Victoria fails to win both its final two games.
The anticipation for the playoffs is beginning to take shape, McDade said.
“Everybody can taste it. We still have two games to get through, and we’re shooting for first overall and we still have a ways to get that,” he said.
Transition player Daniel McQuade, making his return to the lineup after playing for Team Scotland at the FIL world championships last week, said the club is amping it up at the right time.
“I think we just need to keep spinning it, the offence is clicking and we have a lot of guys back on D. We just have to keep meshing and play ’Bellie ball,” said McQuade.
New West hosts Nanaimo tonight (Thursday), 7 p.m. at Queen’s Park and visits Victoria on Sunday.
