There are two upsides to clinching first place in the Minto Cup round robin portion of the tournament: firstly, you gain a bye straight to the gold medal best-of-three series and secondly, you get to sit back, relax, and watch the semi-final game knowing you’ll have to face one of the teams currently getting the tar beat out of them. The Orangeville Northmen clinched first overall on Sunday night with their win over Whitby to become the only 2-0 team at the time. Beating Calgary on Tuesday night was the icing on the cake. The Northmen earned the right to watch the semi-final on Wednesday, and they were rewarded with one heck of a lacrosse game.
Both the Coquitlam Adanacs and the Whitby Warriors faced each other in the nightcap of Tuesday’s double header. That game saw a number of great goals and miraculous saves, but it also was a chippy battle from the opening faceoff. Although both sides rested some of their top players, most notably their starting goalies, the question heading into Wednesday’s rematch was would the fireworks carry over or would cooler heads prevail and the two clubs would simply play lacrosse. To ensure the antics didn’t start before play did, one of the officials assigned to the game was on the floor almost an hour before game time during unofficial warm-ups.
Robert Chuch opened the scoring for Coquitlam in the opening minute which hinted at least the Adanacs would be ready to let the night before rest. However, four minutes later after Ryan Serville was knocked down after scoring Whitby’s opening goal, a crowd drew in front of the crease and the officials assessed offsetting minors. Vincent Ricci would restore Coquitlam’s lead with two minutes to go in a powerplay, but again Serville would tie it. His goal would start a three goal run for the host team that would end the period. Although Coquitlam had a beautiful chance to break up the run with a gorgeous four man passing play, the final shot was rung off the crossbar and the Adanacs found themselves in the room after twenty down 4-2.
Coming out of the break, Coquitlam scored twice in the opening two minutes thanks to Wesley Berg and Reid Reinholdt. Berg would get a third in the period to give the Adanacs the lead. The rough play continued as Trent Hawke went off for slashing which was answered by a Dan Lintner powerplay goal. The Adanacs won the ensuing faceoff but their ball carrier was blatantly crosschecked in the facemask by Graeme Hossack who was sent to the box for five minutes. Both Reinholdt and Ricci would score before a full minute expired in the penalty, goals that would ignite Coquitlam and send them on a six goal run, their next four goals coming in just over four minutes.
The Warriors threatened to break up the streak (in total a 9-1 run in the period) however, with a wide open net behind Davide DeRuscio Jeff Cornwall broke out of the corner and dove through the crease to save a sure goal. While Coquitlam’s streak started with a powerplay goal, Whitby tried the same tactic with Dan Lintner scoring with the man advantage. It would in fact lead to a Warriors rally, but one that would end after just two more goals thanks to the horn ending the second period. After one of the wildest, most exciting lacrosse periods in any league in recent memory, the Adanacs, who outscored Whitby 9-4 in the period, led 11-8.
The third period could be dubbed the special teams period. Whitby’s Zack Palmer opened the scoring on the powerplay, but that was answered by a Robert Church powerplay goal. His goal came with Chris Attwood in the box after taking an ill advised high sticking, retaliation penalty off the ball in the attacking zone. Attwood would make amends mere minutes later scoring a powerplay goal of his own as he intercepted a pass from DeRuscio. With Whitby trailing by two Ben McIntosh went to work doing what he does best – set up goals. He assisted on three straight to teammates Berg (twice) and Ricci, both their hat trick goals and Berg’s second being his fourth of the game shorthanded. With time running down and facing a five goal deficit, Whitby found themselves on the powerplay with just over three minutes to play. Lintner would convert for his hat trick but it would not be enough as Coquitlam ran out the final ninety seconds of the clock with great possessions to win 15-11 and book a date (well, at least two) with the Orangeville Northmen for the right to play for gold this weekend.
With the loss, the Whitby Warriors are eliminated from the tournament meaning that there will be no repeat champion in either the Minto or the Mann Cup this season. The gold medal series is a best-of-three and will begin on Friday evening in Whitby at 8pm. Both Friday and Saturday’s game will be webcast live by pay-per-view on www.webcast-sports.com with the deciding game also being aired Sunday night if needed.
