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Lax midgets win gold

peewees also medal

New Westminster minor lacrosse tasted all three medals at the midget and peewee provincials last weekend.

The midget A1 team defeated archrival and host Port Coquitlam 4-3 in the gold-medal final, while the New West A1 and A2 teams came away with a silver and a bronze medal, respectively, in the peewee provincials in Richmond.

In a highly competitive midget division, the New West A1s eked out five of its seven wins without a loss by two goals or less en route to win the group's fifth-ever B.C. banner.

The core 1996-born group of Salmonbellies also won previous peewee and bantam provincial box titles, while also earning gold in field lacrosse as u-12s and u-14s.

"It was like that all season for us. We actually tied PoCo for first place. It was a tight division this year," said co-coach Ian Hawksbee, who shared the bench duties with Ontario mates Jamie Floris and Tim Hamm.

The midget Salmonbellies won the round-robin with a perfect 5-0 record, including a 7-5 win over Saanich and a 7-6 overtime victory against PoCo.

In the semifinal, team captain and tournament MVP Connor Robinson scored the 4-3 gamewinning goal in OT against Saanich.

Trailing 3-1 in the provincial final, Keanu Fernandes rallied the 'Bellies, scoring all three goals in the final five minutes of play, including the winner with just 11 seconds left on the clock.

"I just remember myself on the bench, I jumped higher than all the kids," said Hawksbee.

Ryan Wilkinson was named New West's midget A1 fair play winner.

In Richmond, New West had two close losses to the favoured PoCo squad at the provincials, including a 5-3 loss in the peewee A1 gold-medal final.

The peewees also avenged an earlier 5-4 loss to Juan de Fuca in pool play with a 9-3 win over the south Island club to advance to the championship final.

"The boys played their best game of the year in the semis against Juan de Fuca and attempted to carry that momentum into the final," said A1 head coach Rich Catton. "I'm very proud of all 13 boys. They were just a couple of goals short of bringing the gold home to 'Bellie land."

Jory Mahal was named New West's A1 winner of the fair play award.

The Salmonbellies also won the peewee A2 bronze medal, knocking off Ridge Meadows 3-2 in the consolation final.

"Our team worked hard, in a tough series, and left if all on the floor," said A2 head coach Rich Peterson of the team's 3-2 record.

Ben Stewart and Travis Peterson led the A2s in scoring with 12 points apiece in weekend play.

Peewee C callups Andrew Bishop, Declan McLean and Daniel Parker also made noteable contributions, while Tyler Pongracz was outstanding in the New West goal, averaging less than four goals a game.

Joseph Callard, Peterson and Pongracz all earned game MVPs during the tournament. The team was led by captain and fair play winner Josh Van Os and assistants Josh MacDonald and Spencer Gillis. Oliver Birosh and Robbie Hackett also contributed to the medal.

New West's peewee B squad, led by fair play winner Jesson Flintoff, finished the competition with a 1-2 overall record, including an 8-4 win over Kelowna in the team's opening game at the provincials on Friday.

tberridge@royalcityrecord.com