The Nanaimo Acme Timbermen swept a top-of-the-standings showdown and are firmly in first place.
The Acme Painting Timbermen senior B lacrosse team (12-1-1) beat the Tri-City Bandits (9-3) by scores of 8-5 and 9-7 on Saturday and Sunday at the Nanaimo Ice Centre.
"We had one goal in mind and that was to get four points for the weekend against a tough team…" said Cody Keating, an alternate captain on the Acme T-men. "Those were two character wins over a really well-coached and defensive team so it was a huge weekend for us."
Goalie Nick Patterson played both games for Nanaimo and came up big in Sunday's win, when he was called on to make 44 saves.
"Nick was phenomenal in both games and especially down the stretch in the third [on Sunday] he just shut the door," said Mike Maughan, coach of the Acme Timbermen. "The team just took that and went with it. Both sides of the ball played really well and we just had a strong, smart third period and it helped us close the game out."
Maughan said his D guys are building chemistry and said their aggressive play also set a tone. On offence, players were persistent, attacking in different ways until they found success.
Keating scored four goals in Sunday's victory and Jon Diplock and Devon Casey each had two goals and three assists. Steve Higgs was Nanaimo's other scorer.
The day before, Diplock had two goals and two helpers, Ryan Forslund also scored a pair and Casey, Shawn Swanson, Ryan Dietterle and Simon Stocks had a goal each. Patterson made 37 saves.
To see another photo from the weekend's action, please click here.
GAME ON … The Acme Timbermen play just one game next weekend, visiting the Valley Rebels on Sunday (June 29) … The team has one remaining regular-season home game, a matchup against the Ladner Pioneers on July 6 at Frank Crane Arena.
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