The New Westminster Salmonbellies had to settle for a silver medal against Saanich at the junior B provincial lacrosse championships.
The West Coast league runner-up and playoff champion Salmonbellies lost to the Saanich Tigers 6-5 in the gold-medal final at the junior B provincials at the Q Centre in Victoria on Sunday.
First team all-star Mitch Flintoff led New West with two goals in the final game.
Marco Ballarin, Brandon Wong and Nathan Marken also scored for the Jr. B ’Bellies. Cole Bevan was named New West’s game MVP.
Bevan and New West goalie Shaun Couzelis were both selected second team all-stars at the provincials.
New West opened the four-team competition on Friday with a 16-6 victory over Kamloops Venom.
Bevan counted five goals in a six-point effort, while Ryland Davidson chipped in with four counters and a pair of assists. Jason DelGrosso added seven helpers to the mix.
Newfoundland native Brandon Fitzgerald and Aaron Madaisky were also among the Salmonbellie goal scorers.
New West dropped the early morning game on Saturday 8-6 in its first meeting with Saanich.
Flintoff had a five-point game, including a pair of goals. Marken also had a couple of markers for New West. Hunter Onstine also scored.
Later in the day, the junior ’Bellies advanced to the final following a 17-9 win over the Westshore Bears.
Flintoff was once again the high man for New Westminster, tallying five times for the winners.
Jackson Birosh led all scorers with a seven-point outing, including a hat trick. Marken figured in on five Salmonbellie markers, including a pair of goals. Regular season scoring champ Sean Fitzsimmons also counted two goals.
Wong added a goal and three assists. Navi Mahal, Bevan, Justin Booth and DelGrosso also had multi-point games.
