Playoff spot clinched
The end of a nine-game losing streak last Thursday night, and some help Sunday evening, has pushed the Surrey Rebels into the West Coast Junior Lacrosse League playoffs.
The Junior B team easily handled the North Shore Indians 14-4 in North Vancouver last week to move a point ahead of the Maple Ridge Burrards and into eighth place. They then had to wait three days for the Burrards to play their final game of the season, but hung on to the final playoff position after Maple Ridge lost 5-4 to the Port Coquitlam Saints Sunday.
The Rebels will face-off tonight (Wednesday) on the road against the first-place New Westminster Salmonbellies in the first game of a best-of-three quarterfinal series. Game two is Friday at 8 p.m. in the Cloverdale Arena.
It took Surrey more than 20 minutes to find the net in North Vancouver, but once they did, the Rebels overwhelmed a North Shore team which had won just twice in 20 league games.
Trailing 1-0 after the first period, the Rebels took a 6-2 lead after two periods on two goals each from Cam Fielding and Brad Olson, and singles from Trent Wittal and Max Richards.
Eight more Surrey goals clinched the victory in the third period. Tyler Voisey tallied twice, with Olson and Fielding completing their hat tricks with a goal each. Wittall notched his second of the game, and Sean O’Beirn, Harrison Mortimore and Intermediate A callup Patrick Butler scored once each.
- Playing at home was no advantage to the Surrey Rebels Intermediate B team this season. Their fourth consecutive loss at the Cloverdale Arena Friday, an 11-5 setback to the Port Coquitlam Black Saints, has knocked the Rebels out of contention for a B.C. Intermediate Lacrosse League playoff berth.
Surrey was just 1-8-1 (won-lost-tied) at Cloverdale this season, and after a 3-3-1 start, have fallen to 4-12-1 and into the South Conference basement with two road games remaining.
Kyle Clarke, Thomas Henry, Mike Meldrum, Andre Culjac and Garrett Ewasiuk netted the Surrey goals.
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