The Delta Islanders are off to the B.C. Junior “B” Tier One Lacrosse League championship series.
The Islanders pulled out a 6-5 victory over the Victoria Shamrocks on Tuesday in the provincial capital to win the best-of-three semi-final series 2-1. They will now meet regular season champion Coquitlam Adanacs in a best-of-seven final.
Peyton Hooper’s early third period hat trick goal proved to be the winner as the Shamrocks managed a late tally but could get no closer thanks to 35-save performance from Ashton Leclair.
With a 5 p.m. start time on the Island, the Islanders reached out to their affiliate teams just to have enough players. Midget A1 call-up Matt Burt came up big with a goal and an assist. He was joined on the roster by teammate Noah Wickett and Jack Stokes from the Junior B2 Islanders.
Rhys Porteous and Keegan Kozack had the other goals. Brendan Szabo chipped in with four assists.
The series was a tight affair from start-to-finish with Victoria taking game one 8-7 on Saturday and the Islanders responding with a 10-7 home floor win 24 hours later.
This is just the second season for the junior “B” tier one league that was created when the intermediate level was dropped in favour of expanding junior to five years.
The Adanacs will be representing B.C. at the Founder’s Cup national junior “B" lacrosse championships in Winnipeg next month thanks to their first place finish in regular season play. That decision was made by the league’s board of governors.
The championships are not a Canadian Lacrosse Association sanctioned event and participating teams receive no funding. Basing the representative on league play provides more time for planning and fundraising.
