The Coquitlam Jr. Adanacs defeated the Port Coquitlam Saints 18-8 Monday to win their BC Junior A Lacrosse League best-of-five championship series in three straight games.
But the team’s work is only half over, says Adanacs head coach Pat Coyle.
The real measure of Coquitlam's campaign will be determined at the Minto Cup national junior lacrosse championship that is being played at the Poirier Sport and Leisure Complex Aug. 17–24.
“This was something that was like a marker along the way,” Coyle said of his team’s sweep of their crosstown rivals. “We’re not here to win the BC championship, we’re seeing past that.”
Still, Coyle added, Monday’s domineering win serves as something of a statement to the three other teams that will also be challenging for the national title — one of which will be the very same Saints the Adanacs dispatched so readily.
“I think we would want to go in the right way, like playing the right way,” Coyle said, adding the Adanacs’ ability to score at will Monday night then lock it down when play shifted into Coquitlam’s end of the floor seemed to rattle Port Coquitlam, which finished the regular season in second place in the league standings, just five points back of the Adanacs.
“I think it helps to put doubt in their mind at least.”
The Saints opened the scoring in a game they had to win after dropping the first two games of the series, 9-7 in Coquitlam last Wednesday and 11-8 on Friday.
But after that it was all Adanacs.
Coquitlam responded to the early deficit with four straight goals before conceding another to the visitors with 2:37 remaining in the first period.
Bolstered by a pair of power play goals, the Adanacs increased their margin to 11-5 after 40 minutes then outscored the Saints 7-3 in the final period.
Ryan Colsey scored five goals to lead all Coquitlam scorers, while David Charney and Nathan Chalmers also had five-point nights.
The Adanacs outshot Port Coquitlam, 73-30.
Coyle said Coquitlam’s tough loss to the Burlington Blaze in last year’s Minto Cup has been a motivator for his charges all season.
“It left a really bad taste in their mouths,” he said. “I didn’t really need to do that much to fire them up.”
Coyle previously guided the Jr. Adanacs to two Minto Cup championships during a five-year tenure with the team from 2015–19. He was brought back into the fold in January after two seasons behind the bench of the Sr. Adanacs in the Western Lacrosse Association.
Coyle said the opportunity to win a national title on Coquitlam’s home floor is a special allure for himself, his staff and all the players.
“For some guys, this will be the only opportunity they get,” he said. “It’s pretty special.”
But before that dream can be realized, the Adanacs have almost two weeks of preparation ahead of them, breaking down video of their opponents, staying in game shape, working on technical aspects of their own play.
It’ll be an all-consuming job, Coyle said.
“We’ll just be living, breathing and sleeping lacrosse.”
Minto Cup opponents still mostly TBA
Aside from the Port Coquitlam Saints, other teams to compete for the Minto Cup national Junior A lacrosse championship include the winner of the Ontario Junior Lacrosse and Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League championship series.
The Orangeville Northmen lead the Mimico Mountaineers in their best-of-seven Ontario Junior Lacrosse League two games to one, while the Calgary Jr. A Raiders hold a similar advantage over the Edmonton Jr. Miners in the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League final.
