New West Nails Burnaby 12-6

by Kyle Richardson NEW WESTMINSTER - In their final regular season game of the 2009 season, the New Westminster Salmonbellies were victorious, doubling the Burnaby Lakers 12-6. A game that didn’t really mean a lot to either team, with New West having already clinched second place and Burnaby unable to make the playoffs, the two teams played a disciplined, fast paced game. New West came into Thursday’s contest trailing the first place Victoria Shamrocks by two points. Victoria had already clinched top spot in the WLA with their win over Coquitlam on Wednesday. While Burnaby was already looking to next season as they sat in last place with only two wins on the campaign. The Bellies were looking to complete the season series sweep over Burnaby for the second straight year. The combination of Cliff Smith and Jordan Hall struck early, as Smith put home two quick goals, followed by one from Hall to give the Bellies a swift 3-0 lead just under three minutes into the contest. Smith would complete the first period hat trick to give New West an 8-4 lead at the break. The second period favoured the home squad as Sophomore Tyler Crompton buried back to back goals while Smith picked up his fourth goal on the night. Following the dominating second stanza, New West took an 11-4 lead into the final frame. The Lakers cut the lead to 11-6 with two goals in the first minute of the third, however the Bellies defence tightened up for the rest of the game, and goaltender Tyler Richards did his part stopping 40 of 46 shots on the night. Scott Stewart scored the lone goal for New West in the third, extending his goal scoring streak to six games. Stewart led the Bellies with six points (1G 5A) and now has an outstanding 21 points in his last four games. Smith finished the night with four goals, Jamie Floris and Curtis Manning each had three point nights, while Wade Dewolff, Jordan McBride, Peter McFetridge, Tyler Crompton, Jordan Hall and Bob Snider all had two point efforts. James Poelzer, playing in only his second WLA game picked up his first point, along with some strong defensive play. With the win New West finishes the season with a 13-3-2 record, good enough for second place in the WLA. The Bellies had an impressive 7-1-1 record at home while going 6-2-1 on the road. More impressive, was the Bellies play in the second half of the season. Back on June 13th following an 11-8 loss to Coquitlam, New West had a questionable 4-3-1 record, and sat in third place just one point up on Langley. Since that loss to the Adanacs almost six weeks ago, the Bellies have been almost perfect. Putting together a 9-0-1 record down the stretch, including a notable 12-6 win over top seeded Victoria. Clearly the Bellies are playing their best lacrosse at the most important time of the season. Last year they cruised through the regular season and playoffs with a combined 25-1 record, only to be swept by the Brampton Excelsiors in the Mann Cup. Maybe the adversity this team has faced early on in the year, is exactly what they need to fully prepare themselves for a possible lengthy playoff run, and another shot at their 25th Mann Cup Championship. The next month of lacrosse will be interesting, but it seems the Salmonbellies are up for the challenge. New West will begin their “Drive for 25” on Wednesday August 5th as they host the Langley Thunder in Game 1 of the WLA Semi Finals at Queens Park Arena. Game time is at 7:45.