Bandits hungry for playoff success in semifinals
Drew Doig, captain of the RPR Mechanical/JR Construction Bandits, remembers the sting all too well.
Up 2-0 in the best-of-five Prince George Senior Lacrosse Association championship series against the Westwood Pub Devils, all that effort to claim league bragging rights went for naught when Doig and the Bandits lost three the next three games and had to settle for second-best.
Just as they were last year wen they had just one regular season loss, the Bandits have been nearly unstoppable in 2018, locking up first place with a 14-2 record. But Doig, who put the wraps on his second consecutive scoring title this season with 36 goals and 69 assists for 105 points in 16 games, knows it’s a different season in the playoffs and how the best-laid plans can unravel when key players go missing.
Last year’s wildfires decimated B.C. forests and seriously depleted the Bandits’ lineup for the final series when they were without snipers Cole Paciejewski, Brock Paciejewski, Trevor Clark and Carson Toth, all of whom were fighting the fires.
The Devils took full advantage in Game 3 of the 2017 final, beating the Bandits for the first time in two seasons, and turned the series in their favour.
“We can’t have the same thing happen to us that happened last year,” said Doig. “It all comes down to numbers.”
So far the wildfire situation has been calm, which means the Bandits should be close to full strength when they open the playoffs Wednesday night at Kin 1 (8 p.m.) against the Mackenzie Omenica Fabricating/Parsnip River Forestry Lumberjacks (5-11) in the opening game of their bestof-three semifinal series. The other semifinal which starts Thursday at Kin 1 pits the second-place Devils (10-6) against the third-place Quesnel M. Daniels Consulting Crossfire (8-8).
Cole Paciejewski won’t be available for the semifinal series but that has nothing to do with firefighting. He leaves for Netanya, Israel this week to play for Scotland at the FIL World Field Lacrosse Championship, July 12-21. Forty-seven teams, including the defending champions from Canada, are entered.
Paciejewski, last year’s league MVP, finished seven points behind Doig in the scoring race with a whopping 55 goals and 97 points in just 10 games.
“If all goes well he should just make it back (after) the first two games of the final,” said Doig.
“I guess we shouldn’t be looking at the finals but... It’s gong to be tough going to Mackenzie (for Game 2 of the series) on Tuesday. It’s a little different for everyone having two out-of-town teams in the playoffs.”
The Bandits won all three games they played this year in Mackenzie. The Devils also will have to play on the road in Game 2 in Quesnel on July 9.
Doig, with 105 points, and Paciejewski, with 97, both lefthanded shooters, had nearly double the points of any other player this season. Kyle Pachecho of Mackenzie was third with 53 points and Carson Toth of the Bandits finished with fourth in the scoring race with 48 points.
The Bandits’ powerhouse offence connected for 205 goals and with Liam Miller and Lucas Rushton in net they allowed just 109 goals.
Rushton is carded with the Maple Ridge Burrards junior B team but still played five games for the Bandits and led the league with a 4.80 goals-against average. Bandits rookie Caleb Mueller, 16, maintained a four-point-per-game pace as the league’s eight-leading scorer with 15 goals and 41 points, while midget callup Justin Parker was even more productive with eight goals and 26 points in just six games.
The Bandits have a potent power play and solid defence built around Clark, Brock Paciejewski, Ryan Waddington and the ageless Grant Stubley, one of only a handful of PGSLA veterans past their 50th birthdays who still play Canada’s national summer sport.
The Devils-Crossfire series could turn out to be a close one. The veteran-stacked Devils spread their scoring all over the floor, which means opponents can’t key on one or two players, and they put the emphasis on retaining control of the ball. Westwood also has a dynamic duo in net with Jamie Bellamy and Steven Brizan, who both have long senior lacrosse resumes. The Crossfire is probably the youngest team in the league and they show up in energetic droves for most games.
The key will be whether they can maintain discipline on the floor and stay out of the penalty box.
The semifinal winners move on to the best-of-five championship series and the winner of that will qualify for the senior C provincial championship in Burnaby, Aug. 3-5. Prince George teams are also eligible to play in the Treasure Cove Casino Canadian Senior C Invitational championship, also being played that weekend in Burnaby.