The Coquitlam Adanacs are Canada’s 2024 Minto Cup Champions.
Photo: Shelly Fey
The Coquitlam Adanacs are Canada’s 2024 Minto Cup Champions.
On Friday night, the Adanacs defeated the Orangeville Northmen 9-6 in Game Two of the Minto Cup Finals. The win gave the Adanacs a 2-0 sweep in the best-of-three finals series, earning them their first Junior A National Championship since 2018.
From the opening whistle, it was clear that everyone on the floor, everyone on the benches, and everyone in the stands understood the gravity of this moment. There was a palpable anxious energy in the arena for most of the game, but that didn’t dull the action for one second.
Just like in Game One of the finals, it took some time for the first goal of the night to be scored. 7:16 into the first, the Northmen changed the scoreboard first. Liam Matthews, who has been the team’s leading goalscorer throughout the Minto Cup is the one who made it happen. On the night, Matthews would finish with a team-best three goals, two of which came in the first.
Nathan Chalmers and Noah Manning got on the board in the first period for the Adanacs. Chalmers was an early spark plug in the finals for Coquitlam - he scored the opening goal of the game in both Game One and Game Two. Furthermore, three of his six goals during the Minto Cup came in the first period.
Both side’s goalies and defenses deserve plenty of credit for the 2-2 scoreline after 20 minutes. Jack Kask was on point for the Adanacs stopping 13 of 15 shots on goal in the first, while Connor O’Toole stopped 11 of 13 shots on goal in that frame. You have to applaud O’Toole for bouncing back less than 24 hours after a rough third period in Game One of the finals.
Tensions built as the first went on. There was plenty of rough stuff in the action and after the whistle. On the Adanacs’ second goal of the game, Noah Manning was forcefully checked in the back and driven into O’Toole in between the pipes. Both men were slow to get up.
Orangeville Head Coach Rusty Kruger made a point to have a word with the official on the floor after the first to share his thoughts on what he thought was going on out there. The intensity persisted in the second.
In the second, both teams still were having difficulty getting on the board. For almost all of the game, the defenses were dictating where the offenses were going to shoot the ball, and it worked in their favor. It’s almost remarkable to believe, but by the end of the second period, the Northmen’s Trey Deere and Joey Spallina had combined for no goals.
One guy who did start scoring was Cody Malawsky. The first was a very similar, beautifully crafted football-type connection between Kask and Malawsky. Kask loves to be the quarterback, and Malawsky is his favorite receiver. Malawsky scored two of his team’s four goals in the second to help push them to a 6-4 lead heading into the final 20 minutes.
By the start of the third, there was no more time for the Northmen to waste. They needed to find at least three more goals than the Adanacs to force a Game Three, or they would have to go home. But, the Adanacs would not let that happen - not on their home floor.
Not only did the Northmen not tally a goal in the third until the 8:26 mark, but the Adanacs had given themselves a larger two-goal cushion to make it 8-4 before that Northmen score even made it the Adanacs’ net (Malawsky scored one of those goals and ended the night with a game-high four scores).
Kask and the Adanacs defense, led by Ty Banks, were on their A-game as the contest wound down - Kask stopped 20 of 22 shots on goal in the frame, including some acrobatic stops. Jack was as advertised during the entire tournament, but particularly when it mattered most in the finals - he stopped 87 of 100 shots on goal over the last two games.
Before everything was all said and done, Bowie Horsman scored the final goal of the finals with 2:36 left on the clock to make it 9-6. The Northmen tried their best to find more opportunities to score, but the Adanacs had plenty of answers throughout the game.
The Minto Cup win for the Adanacs is one of the rare times a team has won a Minto Cup on their home floor. It is considered by many the most difficult championship to win in lacrosse, and now the Adanacs have won it three times in the last eight years - all under Head Coach Pat Coyle.
There’s no disputing it. This was the Coquitlam Adanacs year. From a great regular season in the British Columbia Jr. A Lacrosse League to an emphatic finish to the Minto Cup, they got the job done every step of the way. Coquitlam, this is your moment. You are the 2024 Minto Cup champions.
