The Coquitlam Adanacs picked up right where they left off, on the winning side of the ledger.
In the opening game of the midget A1 provincial lacrosse championship, the Lower Mainland regular season champions walked off the Kin 1 floor Wednesday with a decisive 13-3 win over the Juan de Fuca Whalers of Esquimalt.
Coquitlam, which finished with a 17-1-2 record in the six-team Lower Mainland league, outscored the Vancouver Island playoff champions 5-1 in the opening period. Thomas Semple led the way offensively with three goals and an assist, Jalen Chaster had a two-goal, two assist effort and Brayden Oake scored twice in the opening game of the six-team A1 tournament.
"Our defence was communicating really well and we were moving the ball very well," said Adanacs assistant coach Lance Hofseth. "In Coquitlam, we teach at a very young age the passing and catching skills and as they get older they learn different plays and different ways to set picks. We always say, the ball moves faster than your feet and we get lots of shots on goal. Possession is everything."
The Adanacs intermediate and junior teams are strong as well this year and that's the product of a long history of provincial success at all age levels, which helps get kids turned on the game. The Coquitlam Minor Lacrosse Association has about 800 players. By comparison, 225 kids played minor lacrosse this year in Prince George.
"We start them early and we really emphasize that kids go out with their sticks and bounce the ball off the wall to get that hand-eye co-ordination and by the time they hit midget they should be ready to compete hard," said Hofseth.
"There was a lot of parity in the league this year. Ourselves, Ridge Meadows, Langley and New Westminster are probably the top teams and that's the way it's been all year. We've had some very close games."
Semple, the Coquitlam captain, was a standout Wednesday as the game MVP and Hofseth says the 16-year-old has a bright future ahead of him playing college field lacrosse as a scholarship recruit. Denver won the NCAA Division 1 title this year.
The A2, B and C midget provincial tournaments all begin on Friday. The Prince George Posse opens its A2 tournament Friday at 10:30 a.m. against Kamloops, then plays Coquitlam later that day at 5:30 p.m. When his team's not playing, Hofseth will be watching.
"There are a lot of good players who come out of Prince George, Kamloops and Kelowna and that's one of my jobs this weekend to scout a few players for the intermediate team and hopefully for the junior team," Hofseth said. "I applaud Prince George for hosting this tournament, your volunteer base is fantastic. If we can pluck a few kids from this area an opportunity to play at a higher level and those kids get opportunities to get a scholarship to play field lacrosse in the States then we've done our jobs."
Al that work putting the tournament on is worth it, judging by see the quality of play on the floor at the A1 level. In an exciting game which followed the Adanacs-Whalers game, the Langley Thunder trailed the New Westminster Salmonbellies 4-0 after one period but scored three goals in the second period to make for an exciting finish, eventually losing 5-4.
Nick Hannay collected three goals and Erik Maas had two goals and two assists for the Salmonbellies. Daytin Vidovich fired the winner with 4:18 left. For Langley, Caleb Pearson picked up a goal and an assist and Connor Watson finished with three helpers.
In the late game at Kin 1, the Ridge Meadows Burrards topped the Saanich Tigers 9-2. Connor Evers and Nicholas Scott each had two-goal outings and Nate Faccin was solid in the nets to lead the Burrards.
The A1 tournament resumes today at 9 a.m. at Kin 1 with Langley taking on Coquitlam. The last game of the day starts at 6 p.m.
