The New Westminster Salmonbellies drew first blood in the B.C. Junior Lacrosse League final.
The junior A ’Bellies rallied with six unanswered goals in the final period to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven championship final, following a 13-8 win over the Coquitlam Adanacs at Queen’s Park Arena on Wednesday.
Alex Bohl ignited the third-period comeback, scoring the first of two unassisted goals for the league champion Salmonbellies.
Brett Dobray followed up with the eventual game-winner off a wicked underhand tally off a screen. Dobray led all scorers with three goals and three assists.
Josh Byrne opened the scoring at 6:17 of the first period on his first of four goals. Byrne also fired a natural hat trick early in the middle period that gave the home team a 7-4 lead.
That advantage dwindled to a single goal following two goals by Eli McLaughlin that closed the period. McLaughlin, who was loaned to New West for last season’s playoff run, then scored his hat-trick goal early in the third to give the A’s a temporary 8-7 lead.
But Ross Bowman, who helped his cause by scoring his first junior A goal into an empty net late in the game, was solid in goal, particularly in the final period, stopping 33 shots for the win.
“(Coquitlam) is a great team, but they showed us areas we have to improve on,” said first-year Salmonbellie Mitch MacAulay, who scored his first goal of the playoffs on a first-period breakaway. “It was really back and forth, but in the end we got it done. (Bowman) made some really big saves down the stretch, and I think it was those really big plays that finished it off.”
Game 2 of the series is tonight at the CoquitlamSports Centre at 7:30 p.m. Game 3 is back at Queen’s Park on Saturday at 8 p.m. Game 4 is scheduled for Monday at 7:30 p.m. in Coquitlam.
