The Mission Cedar Kings clinched their first trip to the West Central Senior C Lacrosse League playoffs in team history after a resounding come-from-behind win in the final game of the regular season on Tuesday night.
The Cedar Kings beat the Ridge Attack 8-6 in front of a packed Mission Leisure Centre in just their second home game of the year. Most of the games are played out of Port Coquitlam and Langley, but this was the second chance Mission residents got to see their hometown team in action.
They were treated to a high-energy game that had a playoff atmosphere with Mission making a third-period comeback to finish off the season on a winning note. Mission fought back to make the game 5-5 heading into the third period after the Attack scored five unanswered goals.
The Attack would make it 6-5 on a goal early in the third, but Mission battled back to make it 7-6 before Joel Dahlgren iced it with the empty netter to send Mission to the WCSLL playoffs.
“The guys are really coming together at the right time and it feels good to get one over Ridge,” Mission’s Cam Slater said. “Now we have some momentum going into the playoffs. We’ll be a tough team to beat.”
Goal scorers were Brenton Graham (2), Owen Munro, Paul Makowsky, Cody Thompson, Joel Dahlgren and Gavan Sand. Jeff Lissimore was strong again in goal, making 32 saves for his ninth win of the season.
The win means Mission finishes the year 10-8-0-1 with 21 points and can finish anywhere from third to sixth, depending on how the final league games go over the weekend.
Mission also played twice last weekend, holding off the Port Coquitlam Hitmen 9-3 before dropping a close decision to the Richmond Roadrunners, 3-2.
Top scorers in those games were Brenton Graham, Cody Thompson and John Makowsky with four points apiece. Tyler Voisey, Gavan Sand and Owen Munro also had three points while Jeff Lissimore had a sparkling 91 per cent save percentage.
The Cedar Kings will play in a single elimination playoff game on Monday at either 7 or 9 p.m. at the Port Coquitlam Rec Centre.