LANGLEY – Two of the hottest teams in the WLA for the month of July met Wednesday night in Langley. New West came in with an eight game unbeaten streak, while the Langley Thunder were riding a six game winning streak of their own. Home floor advantage for the first round of the 2009 playoffs was on the line, as the Thunder could still leap the Bellies in the standings and steal second place. However, New West proved to be too much for Langley, as the Bellies pulled out the 9-8 win, and moved into first place in the WLA standings. With the win, New West improved its record to 12-3-2 on the season and can now finish no lower than second place, meaning they will have the all important home floor advantage for the semi final round of the playoffs.

Aside from the post season implications, Wednesday’s game had a whole new level of intensity. The much anticipated meeting between Langley’s tough guy Tyler Chambers, and New West’s enforcer Rory Smith didn’t take long. Just seventeen seconds into the game, the two squared off at centre, in what was being called the fight of the year, one that turned out to be completely one sided. Smith landed a vicious left hook early in the fight, sending Chambers to the floor. Smith could have done some serious damage, but decided to hold off for the remainder of the scrap as Chambers held on trying to regain his balance. The possible first round playoff preview continued to be physical, as three minutes later, Salmonbellies assistant captain and WLA penalty minute leader Kyle Ross traded blows with Langley defender Mike Grimes. Following the second fight of the period, New West’s Ilija Gajic joined in on the action, as he squared off with Steve Hay. Despite the extracurricular activities for the majority of the first period, Langley held a 3-2 advantage at the intermission.

The rough play carried over into the second, with the fourth fight of the night as Salmonbellie sophomore Bubba Westwood sent Langley’s Hay to the dressing room for stitches. As the two dropped their gloves, Westwood connected with a right haymaker sending Hay to the floor. Later in the second frame, with the score tied at five, Langley decided to go after Bellies goaltender Matt Roik. Twice in thirty seconds, on separate occasions, Langley’s Rob Van Beek and Joe Vetere each took a turn hitting Roik. New West came out of the scrums with a combined seventeen minutes in penalties while Langley was assessed six. The Bellies penalty kill had to be superb again, especially during the stretch late in the second period, as they did not give up a power play goal following all their penalties. While trailing 7-5 with under a minute to play in the second stanza, Salmonbellies rookie Sean Robinson provided the possible turning point in the game. As Scott Stewart was ragging the ball shorthanded, he fed Robinson who put home his 15th goal of the season, cutting the deficit to 7-6 heading for the third.

The third period proved to be the winning factor for New West. They played solid defence and picked up timely goals. Cliff Smith tied the game at seven, early in the period with his third goal of the night. With just over a minute to go in the game, Jamie Floris gave New West the lead at 8-7. Under a minute later, Scott Stewart extended his goal scoring streak to five games with an empty netter helping New West hold on for the come from behind win. Stewart led New West offensively with five points (1G 4A), Cliff Smith finished the night with four points (3G 1A), Jordan McBride picked up three (2G 1A), while Floris and Gajic each had two points (1G 1A). Matt Roik was busy in net, stopping 36 of 44 shots in the win. Roik now has a notable 7-1-1 record with a 7.71 goals against average.

New West now sits alone in first place in the WLA standings with 26 points and one game remaining. Victoria sits in second place with 24 points, and has three games left. The four playoff teams have been decided, and New West will play either Langley or Coquitlam in the first round, which starts in early August. If Wednesday’s game against Langley was any indication of playoff lacrosse, the fans will be in for a month long treat.

The Bellies will now have a week off as they do not play until Thursday July 30th, when they host the Burnaby Lakers in their regular season finale at Queens Park Arena. Game time is at 7:45.