The Valley Rebels saw their season come to an end in the West Coast Senior Lacrosse Association semifinals, as they suffered a sweep at the hands of the Ladner Pioneers.
The Rebels, coming off a 2-0 series win in the best-of-three first round over the North Shore Indians, hung with first-place Ladner in all three games of their best-of-five set.
But the Pioneers proved to be too much, edging the Abbotsford-based senior B men’s squad by scores of 10-7, 10-6 and 11-10.
The Rebels made a valiant comeback attempt in the series finale – trailing 6-3 heading into the third period, they drew to within a goal with 3:32 remaining on Jordan Hernandez’s third tally of the game. But they would get no closer, as the Pioneers punched their ticket to the final to meet the Tri-City Bandits.
In addition to Hernandez’s hat trick, Sean Kelly also had a huge offensive game in defeat, racking up two goals and seven assists. Brendan Galbraith (one goal, three assists) and Geordie Wells (two goals, one assist) also chipped in.
