They came in bunches for the Coquitlam Jr. Adanacs during the regular season. Now, they are bordering on bankrupt in the B.C. Jr. 'A' lacrosse league playoff final.
They are goals.
Yet even though they're averaging fewer than eight tallies compared with the 14 per game they pumped in during their pristine 21-0 campaign, the Jr. A's are still up comfortably 3-1 in the best-of-seven series against the New Westminster Jr. Salmonbellies.
And that's all that matters to a calm, seemingly unfazed Coquitlam head coach Curt Malawsky.
"I'm not surprised at all," said Malawsky, after his Jr. A's gutted out a tense 9-6 victory Wednesday at Queen's Park Arena. "I think we have the two best goalies in the league battling it out. The shots have been decent... it's just that we have a good defensive system and they have a good defensive system. It's just a good, tough series."
Offensive output was nary a problem for both squads during the regular campaign, when Coquitlam delivered a league-high 289 goals compared with the next-best 227 scored by the 16-5 Jr. 'Bellies.
Playoffs have proven vastly different, especially in the final series, where the winning team has only once scored double digits so far, when Coquitlam won Game 3 by a 10-7 margin Monday.
Granted, while the two teams beat up on other squads during the regular season, their three meetings were relatively low scoring, with the Jr. A's winning by 9-4, 10-8 and 10-6 counts.
With the Jr. A's Steve Fryer and New West's Frank Scigliano bringing their 'A' games in the cages, Coquitlam finally won the 60-minute struggle Wednesday by netting the game's final three goals after the Jr. 'Bellies came from behind three prior times to even the score.
Brandon Bertoia, Matthew Dinsdale and Kevin Neufeld each struck net after New West's Reagan Harding knotted the count 6-6 as Coquitlam out-scored the hosts 3-1 in the third period to post the crucial win.
New West went up 1-0 on a Kyle Robinson marker 2:24 into the affair but the Jr. A's never again surrendered the lead.
"We've been through adverse situations all year -- on and off the floor -- and the playoffs are filled with them," Malawsky said. "It's how you ride through those momentum swings that makes the difference."
The teams were tied 3-3 after the first period and Coquitlam led 6-5 after the second. Dinsdale, Ben McIntosh and Casey Jackson fired in two goals apiece for the Jr. A's, with David Joyce also hitting the scoresheet. Travis Cornwall dished out three assists for the winners.
Shots on goal were dead even at 39 apiece, even though New West outshot the Jr. A's 18-11 in the final frame.
After dropping the series' first game 7-6 on Aug. 3, the Jr. A's have rattled off three straight wins, including a gritty 6-4 triumph in Game 2 last Saturday in New West.
Game 5 in the series goes 8 p.m. Saturday at the Poirier Sports and Leisure Complex.
Used Sporting Goods Sale
KidSport Tri-Cities Summer Used Sporting Goods Sale is set for Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the Poirier Sports and Leisure Complex. Admission is by donation or items for the food bank, with proceeds going to KidSport Tri-Cities, which since 2006 has assisted more than 1,000 youngsters to participate in organized sport.
