The Coquitlam Jr. Adanacs may have lost the battle, but they still have an advantage to win the war.
The host team advanced to the Minto Cup best-of-three championship final series despite losing to the Orangeville Northmen, 12-9, Monday at the Poirier Sport and Leisure Complex.
The result left the Adanacs, Northmen and PoCo Saints in a three-way tie with two wins and a loss each at the conclusion of round robin play. But Coquitlam gets the bye into the final because of a superior goal differential of nine, four more than the second place Northmen and seven better than the Saints.
Orangeville and PoCo will play a semi-final game Tuesday at 7 p.m. to determine the Adanacs' opponent in the finale, which begins Thursday.
The Saints defeated the Northmen 12-7 in their round-robin game Saturday.
The tournament’s fourth team, the Okotoks Raiders of the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League, finished with no wins and three losses after dropping a 12-5 decision to the Saints in Monday’s early game.
The Northmen struck first against the Adanacs when Brian Jackman beat Coquitlam goalie Jack Kask with a power play goal 1:44 after the opening face-off.
Goals by Jaxon Dillon and Nathan Chalmers 22 seconds apart put the Adanacs in front 2-1. But it would be the only time Coquitlam had the advantage as Vince Onofrio got Orangeville back on even terms and Cam Sanderson’s power play goal with 35 seconds left in the first period put the Northmen in front again, 3-2.
Orangeville outscored the Adanacs 6-3 in the second period.
Coquitlam had a 4-3 edge in goals in the third period, but it wasn’t enough.
Dillon finished the game with three goals to lead all Adanacs' scorers, while Parker Kennedy pitched in a pair.
The Northmen were led by Cam Sanderson, who scored four times. Owen Rahn added a hat trick.
Kask faced 43 shots in Coquitlam’s net. His teammates fired 42 at Orangeville keeper Lindyn Hill.
The best-of-three final will be played Thursday, Friday and Saturday (if necessary). All games start at 7 p.m. at Poirier.
