NEW WESTMINSTER – It was a back and forth affair for a full 60 minutes of entertaining lacrosse. Even that wasn’t enough to settle a winner in game three of the WLA Finals on Thursday night, as both New West and Coquitlam needed overtime to settle things. Eventually it was the hometown Bellies that picked up the win, with a 16-13 overtime edge of your seat nail biter, to claim a significant 3-0 lead in their best of seven series over the Adanacs. New West now needs just one more win to advance to their second straight Mann Cup Canadian Lacrosse Championship Series.

The Bellies entered game three knowing how important it was to deny Coquitlam of regaining any momentum in this series. The Adanacs had different ideas as they came storming out of the gate and grabbed a 5-1 lead just five minutes into the game. It was the largest deficit New West had faced since trailing the Burnaby Lakers by three goals back on June 26th, a game in which the Bellies eventually won 9-7. After settling down in front of an energetic crowd of over 1000 supporters at Queens Park Arena, New West replied with two goals before the period ended. Peter Morgan and Ilija Gajic each scored late in the first, to cut the deficit to 5-3 after the first 20 minutes.

The home team seemed to grab all of the momentum in the early stages of the second period. As Jordan McBride, Jordan Hall and Gajic combined for three straight goals in the opening four minutes, to take a 6-5 lead. The Adanacs pulled ahead with two power play goals from Daryl Veltman and Jason Wulder, but Gajic tied the game at 7 with an incredible jumping power move through the Adanac defence as he tucked the ball over the shoulder of Coquitlam goalie Chris Levis. After outscoring the A’s 4-2 in the middle frame, both teams were deadlocked at 7 heading for the third period.

After trading goals in the first half of the final frame, the Bellies netted two consecutive goals to grab a 10-8 lead with just four minutes left in the game. As they’ve done all season you would expect New West to hold on for the lead, but Coquitlam refused to roll over. Jason Wulder would score two goals to knot the game at 10. Both goals came while the Adanacs had six attackers with their goalie pulled, including the game tying goal with only 7 seconds to play.

So for only the third time all season the Bellies were forced to play overtime. On both occasions during the regular season while playing the extra session New West tied Langley 10-10 and Nanaimo 11-11.

With a 3-0 series lead on the line, New West had just enough left in the tank to pull off the win. Curtis Manning opened the overtime scoring with a breakaway goal giving the Fish an early 11-10 advantage. Coquitlam responded soon after tying the game once again at 11. The Bellies answered with three goals of their own to again grab the lead at 14-11. Cliff Smith would net two of those goals with Hall picking up the other. Following a Coquitlam goal, making it 14-12, Gajic sent the Queens Park faithful into a frenzy with his fourth goal on the night, while Hall provided some insurance to give New West a 16-12 advantage with only a minute to play in overtime. The Adanacs would score a late goal, but the Salmonbellies held on for the 16-13 win.

The Bellies had huge a offensive night from several players. Gajic finished the game with four goals and two assists for a six point effort, while both Smith and Hall picked up five points, on three goals and two assists each. Both players were clutch, as they each scored twice in overtime, including Smith’s game winning goal. Faceoff man Bob Snider picked up five assists, three of which came in overtime. While right handers, Jordan McBride and Jamie Floris each collected four points.

Goaltender Tyler Richards picked up his league leading fourth win of these playoffs, stopping 32 of 45 shots in the contest. Richards didn’t have the best start, but was solid when the game counted, making numerous cross crease desperation saves.

The Bellies now hold a commanding 3-0 series lead over the Adanacs and will look to complete the sweep on Saturday night in Coquitlam for game four. Game time is at 7:45pm.

If New West wins on Saturday it will mark their fourth consecutive WLA playoff series sweep, dating back to last year’s Semi Final win over the Victoria Shamrocks. As we saw in game three though, don’t expect Coquitlam to hand the WLA Championship to the Bellies. Similar to 2008’s WLA Final, New West will enter the Coquitlam Sports Centre with a 3-0 series lead. The Bellies had to scratch and claw for a full 60 minutes to finish off the Adanacs last year, and Saturday’s game will be no less intense, as lacrosse fans in BC will be in for a real treat.

Salmonbellies 2009 Playoff Schedule: WLA Semi Finals:

Game 1: New West 12 – Langley 5

Game 2: New West 15 – Langley 7

Game 3: New West 14 – Langley 7

Game 4: New West 10 – Langley 4

WLA Finals:

Game 1: New West 14 – Coquitlam 5

Game 2: New West 13 – Coquitlam 5

Game 3: New West 16 – Coquitlam 13 (OT)

Game 4: Saturday August 22nd New West @ Coquitlam 7:45pm Coquitlam Sports Centre

Game 5: Monday August 24th Coquitlam @ New West 7:45pm QPA * (If Necessary)

Game 6: Wednesday August 26th New West @ Coquitlam 7:45pm Coquitlam Sports Centre * (If Necessary)

Game 7: Friday August 28th Coquitlam @ New West 7:45pm QPA * (If Necessary)