Adanacs Sweep Salmonbellies; Advance to Finals

Down 2-0 in the best-of-5 series, the Salmonbellies needed to go all out to live another day as they took on the Coquitlam Adanacs Wednesday night at the Coquitlam Sports Centre.

It was a rather quiet first period in terms of goals. The ‘Bellies opened the scoring 50 seconds in with a goal by JeremyBosher to make it 1-0, but no lead is ever safe when you play the Adanacs. The Adanacs quickly turned it into a 3-1 game with goals by ChrisCloutier , TylerPace and TaylorStuart by the 7-minute mark and that was the way the first period ended.

The ‘Bellies brought a lot of pressure in the second period and it paid off for them. There was some early back and forth action between both teams as the Adanacs and ‘Bellies each scored 2 within the first 8 minutes of the second period, but it was the ‘Bellies who controlled the second half of the period. ConnorRobinson scored on the powerplay just before the half way point to make it a one-goal game. Cloutier netted his third of the game just over a minute later, but that two-goal lead became one with 8:44 remaining when Nathan Stewart scored.

With just 2 seconds remaining in the period, DaneSorensen scored his second of the game to even the game at 6, making the third period a wild one. 

No one wanted to make any mistakes in the third period and the ‘Bellies were on the edge of multiple times in which the Adanacs could’ve put them away, but goaltender Kevin Orleman made some big saves to keep the ‘Bellies in it.

The ‘Bellies took a 7-6 lead when Robinson scored on the powerplay with 12:32 remaining in the third, but that lead did not last long as Pace scored less than a minute later.

Again, the ‘Bellies took the lead with a goal by JohnnyPearson and while it looked like the ‘Bellies were going to pull out with a win, regular season goal leader and point leader Cole Shafer shattered the ‘Bellies chances with 2:18 left as game 3 headed to overtime.

Unfortunately for the Salmonbellies, Shafer continued to shatter their chances in overtime. Shafer scored 3:11 into overtime, followed by another two minutes later. ChallenRogers sealed the ‘Bellies fate with 1:25 left as the Adanacs advance to the finals.

THREE STARS OF THE GAME

1. Coquitlam - Cole Shafer - 3 Goals, 2 Assists

2. Coquitlam - ChrisCloutier - 3 Goals, 2 Assists

3. New Westminster - JeremyBosher - 1 Goal, 4 Assists

It was certainly a different season for the Salmonbellies who have been to the finals the last 2 years, but there was a lot of change from last year’s team and it was certainly a growth season for some of their players. The Adanacs will continue their dominant run into the finals and will have a well-rested break before they take on the Delta Islanders or the Victoria Shamrocks.  Could we see a rematch of the 2012 finals where the Adanacs took out the Islanders in 5 games or will the Shamrocks claw back from their 2-0 deficit and make it to the finals for the first time since 2008?