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Playoffs present new season for No. 1 'Bellies

It was a doozy of a matchup a year ago. The New Westminster Salmonbellies and Maple Ridge Burrards took it to seven games, with the final going into double-overtime before the visiting ’Bellies exited with the win.
Mitch Jones
New Westminster sniper Mitch Jones, centre, shown during a recent game in Burnaby, will be part of the league-leading offence lining up against Maple Ridge in tonight's Game 1 of their WLA semifinal series. The two teams will be meeting in the semifinals for a second straight year.

It was a doozy of a matchup a year ago.

The New Westminster Salmonbellies and Maple Ridge Burrards took it to seven games, with the final going into double-overtime before the visiting ’Bellies exited with the win.

The two square off for a rematch in the Western Lacrosse Association semifinals, starting Thursday (7:30 p.m. at Queen’s Park Arena).

Fresh off an 8-4 doubling of second-place Victoria on Sunday, which gave New West a league-best 15-3-0 record, the central focus now is how to build on that consistency.

And like last year’s thrilling seven-game set-to, this year’s has all the earmarks of a long, physical affair.

“Maple Ridge made us a better team in that series,” remarked ’Bellies captain Curtis Hodgson, reflecting on his squad’s run to the 2017 Mann Cup series. “They’re a formidable opponent, and whoever comes out of this series will be playing their best lacrosse.”

Although New West won all three regular season games, 12-6, 13-6 and a thrilling 14-13 overtime decision reminiscent of Game 7 last year, that all becomes a non-factor as head coach Rory McDade and his assistant coaches size up the two teams’ strengths.

“Looking at our offence, there has been great ball movement this year, and that’s a key against Maple Ridge’s defence, to not get stagnant, make sure the ball is swinging side to side and making their goalie move,” said McDade.

“Our season started well but we had a couple of bumps that provided us with a chance to reflect and an opportunity to adjust,” Hodgson noted. “I think Rory and the coaches have done a great job in preparing us for this stage.”

The Burrards will have team scoring leader Curtis Dickson and Ben McIntosh together in the lineup, offering a formidable one-two offensive punch. Both played large roles with the national field lacrosse team in Israel last month.

“(Maple Ridge) haven’t had a full lineup this year so it’s tough to game plan for that, we’re trying to take little pieces of what we’ve seen and prepare accordingly,” the New West coach said.

“We saw (Dickson) twice, but we didn’t see him with (Ben) McIntosh in the lineup as well, and that makes a bit of a difference when (Mcintosh) is on the right side.”

Dickson, who along with McIntosh missed two weeks of the season as a member of Team Canada at the FIL world field lacrosse championships last month, tallied 37 goals and 24 assists over 11 games. He was also a major contributor to New West’s loss in the Mann Cup, when the PoCo native was a member of Peterborough.

“Anywhere (Dickson) has been he’s put up good numbers, and that’s going to be a key to the series, just like they’re going to be keying on our top guys. At the end of the day they’ll look up at the scoreboard and see what they put up, and it’s probably similar to what we’ll be doing,” said McDade.

New West has also had players exit and re-enter the lineup, with Daniel McQuade and Jimmy McBride both part of Team Scotland at the world championships. Justin Goodwin has only played seven games due to work commitments in Ohio, while Anthony Malcom and Mike Messenger have missed a handful of games each.

So having a full, or at least fuller, roster will be a bonus for both teams.

New West isn’t without its share of offensive stars, however. Logan Schuss captured the WLA scoring title with a 37-goal, 69-assist performance and is surrounded by a handful of terrific snipers who were part of the league’s top offence.

“Logan’s chemistry with Mitch (Jones), Jordan (McBride) and Jason (Jones) really complement what we’re all about. We’ve seen (Schuss) mature as a player, and he just gets better each week,” said Hodgson.

McDade said the overall effort will dictate the result.

“We’re looking to play defence, transition and offence – the whole deal, including goaltending. We’re hoping that package can push us to the next round,” said McDade.

The series continues Saturday in Maple Ridge and returns to Queen’s Park on Monday for Game 3. Game 4 is Wednesday in Maple Ridge. All games start at 7:30 p.m.