Bellies Head to Playoffs Against Vaunted Shamrocks

"It doesn't matter."

That's the message Salmonbellies leadership has for their young, playoff bound squad.  The Bellies finished the season 4th in the standings and will face off against Victoria in Round One.  Remarkably, the final standings of the WLA would not be known until August 1st, the last game of the 2024 campaign.  

The 8-9 Bellies faced a 17-0 Shamrocks squad on a mission.  The Rocks's won 11-5 and secured the title of "First Undefeated WLA Team in History,."

But on August 2nd, those standings reset and anything can happen in the playoffs.

The best-of-5 semi-final series between Victoria and New West is guaranteed at least one game at Queens Park.  It goes Aug 9 (6:30 pm), with an "as-needed" game 4 scheduled for Aug 13.  Games 1 and 3 will be in Victoria on Aug 7 and 11.  If needed, Game 5 would be in Victoria on August 15th.

The Bellies played well and kept tonight's game close until the 3rd period, considering they were missing many of their experienced vets.  Missing were Kevin Crowley, Logan Schuss, Brandon Goodwin, Colton Clark and Tony Malcom, but most are expected back in the playoffs.  Junior call-ups Lukas Nielsen (1 goal)  and Ben Soenen were back in the line-up and are expected to continue.   Adam Charalambides led the Bellies with 3 assists, while Mike Messenger (playing a regular front gate shift) scored a goal and a helper. Tyson Gibson had 2 goals and Luke Pilcher rejoined the lineup, earning an  assist.

It was a relatively quiet night for Will Malcom with 2 assists, but he still finished the season with the undisputed lead in offensive stats.  Malcom earned 112 points, 37 more than Zach Manns in second.  He scored 52 goals, 9 better than Burnaby's Ben McDonald, and his 60 assists put him 14 ahead of Adanacs star Tyler Kirkby.  His 6.2 points-per-game average was better than 2nd place Jesse King's 5.0 ppg. Malcom also scored 13 power play goals, good for second in the WLA.

For GM Ray Porcellato, there is still a lot of lacrosse to be played.  With a complete line-up, Porcellato expects the team to push the Shamrocks in a way that they didn't experience in the regular season.  The teams have comparable power play, penalty kill, and goals-per-game numbers, but the Shamrocks goaltending has made a big difference in their goal differential.  Porcellato believes that the Bellies defence and goaltending will reach another level in the semis, making it a much tighter battle.

Victoria's record:

New Westminster's record:

It's bound to be a beauty. Will the Rocks continue their dominance?  Or will the Bellies shock them?  Don't miss a moment!

You can watch Game 2 at QPA by buying tickets here.  You can watch Games 1 and 3 on WLA TV here.

Game 4 tickets will go on sale as soon as we know for sure that we are coming back to Queens Park Arena.  Stay tuned!

As always, Bellies Lacrosse is proudly sponsored by Stonehaus Realty.