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Burnaby girls garner three medals at lax provincials

Burnaby girls won all their final games at the B.C. female provincial lacrosse championships in Port Coquitlam on Sunday. The bantam girls earned the team's first-ever B.C.

Burnaby girls won all their final games at the B.C. female provincial lacrosse championships in Port Coquitlam on Sunday.

The bantam girls earned the team's first-ever B.C. title, edging Coquitlam 6-5 on tournament MVP Carley Spagnuolo's overtime game-winner.

Jolene Robinson sent the game into extra time, tying the contest with just 5.1 seconds left in regulation time.

Goalie Lizzie Morrison was named game MVP in the final.

"It is the first time this group together has won the provincials and it's the first time our coach (Tom Kellett) has won in his coaching career and he's been coaching for a long time," said Robinson.

"It's nice to come away with the gold this time," Kellett added.

Burnaby also knocked off eventual bronze medallist New Westminster 4-3 in OT with the help of game MVP Claudia Funare in the crossover match.

The Burnaby peewee and junior girls both came home with bronze medals.

The peewees, who finished fifth in the regular season, needed just one goal from Tea Cecic to win the third-place medal following a 1-0 win over Coquitlam 1 in the final.

All-star goalie Mackenzie Smith recorded the shutout win for Burnaby. Coquitlam 2 handed Burnaby its only loss at the provincials, a 1-0 defeat in the semifinals.

"We really played well, but it was a shame," said coach Paul Kuhn of the team's one defeat.

Emma Regan, Sarah Kuhn, Gabriella Zenone and Kaela Hansen were players of the game stars for the peewees.

In the junior consolation final, Lindsey Musto, Ivana Bilic and Diana Min all scored two goals to lift Burnaby to a 9-3 win over Coquitlam.

Runner Jessica Yee and defender Montana Adlington also turned in solid efforts for the three-time junior medallists.

Burnaby was earlier thwarted by rival Nanaimo 5-2 in the semifinals.

"We played well enough to win, but we made enough mistakes to lose," said junior coach Kim Adlington of the semifinal loss.

But Burnaby's fine showing at this season's provincials marks a steady improvement in the girls' game in the association, added Adlington.

One fine example of why it's happening is Burnaby junior goalie Nicole Kelly, who earned a bronze medal as a player and a gold as an assistant coach with the Burnaby bantam team. The other part of it is girls just wanting to play with their friends, Kellett added.

Thirteen-year-old Spagnuolo can attest to that. "We have a lot more girls getting interested at a younger age," she said.