West Central Lacrosse League

Last updated
West Central Lacrosse League
WCLL wiki logo.jpg
West Central Senior Lacrosse League
Sport Box lacrosse
Founded2003
No. of teams9
CountryFlag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada
Most recent
champion(s)		Port Coquitlam Hitmen (2022)
Official website http://wcsll.teamopolis.com

The West Central Senior Lacrosse League (WCSLL) is a men's Senior C amateur box lacrosse league sanctioned by the British Columbia Lacrosse Association in Canada.

Contents

Officially named the West Central Senior 'C' Lacrosse Association, it is usually referred to as the West Central League or just simply the 'C' League and consists of nine teams based in cities located in the Greater Vancouver area - all playing the majority of their games from a central venue located at Port Coquitlam Arena. The league schedule is typically contested from mid-April until early August.

League history

Harry George Woolley founded the West Central Lacrosse League (WCLL) in fall 2002.[ citation needed ] Earlier in 2002, while being commissioner of the West Coast Senior Lacrosse Association (WCSLA) Senior B league, Woolley saw 55 players cut with nowhere to play. He completed the necessary paperwork and helped organize the WCLL get off the ground.

The vision Woolley had in establishing the West Central Lacrosse League (WCLL) was to create a recreational league that any lacrosse enthusiast could join.

Original Teams

The West Central League started play in 2003 with four teams: the Abbotsford Attack, Port Coquitlam Hitmen, Port Moody Express, and Vancouver Vipers.

The Port Coquitlam Hitmen were founded by Scott Parsons. The Port Moody franchise originated after the 2002 Alcan Cup in Vernon. The Port Coquitlam Knights Senior B team, which was started by David George Wisniewski and Edward Gosse. The Knights wete a ragtag team of friends that included the likes of Keith Armstrong, Julian Brambleby,Terry and Bill Mosdell, Jim Steedsman, Ritchie and Troy Baker, Sennan Joseph,Harry Preston, Mike O Reilly, David Bensmiller and Scott Parsons.This gang of misfits, that loved game came together for an Alcan cup Senior B tournament in Prince George BC. The Knights walked away with a not so, so surprising Bronze medal. The next year the Knights journeyed to Vernon for a as a 12 team tournament as they did the year before in Prince George, realized that things needed to change.David Wisniewski told Glen "Moose" Scott (Prince George senior lacrosse commissioner) at the Alcan Cup tournament that he would be putting a Port Moody Senior C team in for the next year's Alcan Cup. The West Central League originally excluded Port Moody from the league; Surrey, Abbotsford, Vancouver and Port Coquitlam being the original teams. Port Moody, despite having a full roster and financial support, was told that this was a four team league at the league's first meeting. Surrey then later backed out and Port Moody stepped in to take their place. The original proposed name for the team was the Port Moody Beasts, but this was soon dropped in favour of the Port Moody Express. The Abbotsford Attack were started by Cam Janzen and Tom Potter as they wanted to have a box team for all the Abbotsford field players to keep their skills up over the off-season. Terry(the maniac) Kirstiuk was responsible for founding the Vancouver Vipers (named after the former Vancouver Senior B team from the late 1990s), a squad which struggled through its first season with short-benches and an inexperienced roster.

Seasons

2003

The first league match was played on May 10, 2003, a 9-9 tie in which Kelly Scott of Abbotsford Attack scored the league's first goal (against Port Coquitlam Hitmen). Port Moody Express and Port Coquitlam Hitmen were the dominant teams during the inaugural season, finishing 1st and 2nd respectively in the regular season standings and both met in the playoff finals with Port Coquitlam defeating Port Moody 12-10 in overtime to win the Gale Lloyd Trophy - symbolic of the league's playoff championship. In the league's consolation bronze game, the Vancouver Vipers, who went winless during the regular season, pulled off a 7-4 upset to defeat the Abbotsford Attack.

2004

The 2004 regular season basically saw a repeat finish of the previous year, although Port Coquitlam finished tied for points with Abbotsford. Vancouver Vipers picked up its first and only win of the regular season at the expense of Port Coquitlam. Port Moody and Port Coquitlam met again in the playoff championship - with the game going into overtime but this time Port Moody walking away with the Gale Lloyd trophy in an exciting 9-8 victory. Abbotsford defeated Vancouver 11-7 in the re-match for the bronze medal game.

One major change which occurred prior to the 2004 campaign was the adoption of one central arena location in Port Coquitlam for all games regardless which teams were playing. In the inaugural season, a different team would host games each weekend at their own home arena. Players complained about the travel (especially back-to-back Saturday-Sunday games played in Abbotsford and Vancouver-Kerrisdale) and confusion over scheduling locations, so the decision was made to centralize everything out of Port Coquitlam Arena. Since then, just over 80% of all league games have been played at Port Coquitlam Arena - with the remainder re-scheduled elsewhere when not available.

2005

On February 23, 2005 the North Shore Indians from North Vancouver were approved and joined as the league's first expansion team. Port Coquitlam and Port Moody met yet again in the playoff finals - this time Port Coquitlam taking the trophy home with a 10-8 win.

In October 2005, during the off-season, Vancouver's executive decided to rename the team the Burrards to keep in line with all other Vancouver box lacrosse teams from minor up through to senior level.

2006

In 2006, the league's fourth campaign, Port Moody dropped the unpopular PoCoMo moniker and proceeded to shellshock the league with its 10-0 start. Port Moody walked away with the championship in an easy 11-3 win versus North Shore, while Abbotsford took the bronze against Vancouver.

Despite the overwhelming dominance of Port Moody (who went on to win the Alcan Cup Invitational Senior C Championship held in Prince George and then capped it up the following week with winning British Columbia Senior C provincial championships in Richmond and New Westminster), the league saw the closest parity and balanced play between teams since the league started.

2007

The first half of the 2007 season was fairly close, as on any given day depending on who showed up any team could beat another. As the season progressed however, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, and North Shore were able to fortify themselves prior to the roster deadline with signing cuts to boost their fortunes in the standings as Abbotsford and Vancouver slid downwards from remaining with pretty much the same intact rosters for the entire season.

In the bronze medal game played the following day, the Abbotsford Attack held a 7-4 lead after forty minutes but then the Indians mounted yet another of their third-period comebacks. Abbotsford were able to hang on for a 9-8 victory over the North Shore Indians.

The championship game featured the fourth time the Port Moody Express and Port Coquitlam Hitmen had met in the finals - and once again it was an interesting and exciting game. Port Coquitlam held narrow 1-goal leads after each of the first two period, but Port Moody were then able to outscore the Hitmen 6-4 in the third-period to win the championship 15-14.

The following weekend, four teams traveled to Prince George to compete in the British Columbia Senior 'C' Provincial and Alcan Cup tournaments. In a tournament which none of the host teams were able to make the finals, Port Moody Express and Port Coquitlam participated in the provincials with Port Moody losing to Kelowna Raiders (Okanagan Xtreme League) in the gold medal game. In the Alcan Cup, North Shore Indians and Vancouver Burrards finished ahead of their Prince George opposition to meet for the gold medal, with the Indians taking the gold 10-4 in the championship game.

2008

On February 21, 2008 the league expanded when the West Van Outlaws from West Vancouver were accepted into the league as its sixth team. Along with the new team, the regular season schedule was increased from 12 to 15 games and the playoff final made into a best-of-three series. Expansion required the league to change its scheduling so that its Saturday night double-headers involving four teams became triple-headers involving all six teams and the bye weeks eliminated.

Port Moody Express and Port Coquitlam Hitmen battled neck and neck throughout the season for first place.

In the championship finals between Port Moody Express and North Shore Indians, the defending champion Express swept the best-of-three series 10-8 and 12-6 to win the Gale Lloyd Trophy for the third year in a row, and the fourth time in five seasons.

Port Moody Express and North Shore Indians then traveled the following week to Kelowna to represent the league in the British Columbia Senior 'C' Provincials. Port Moody won all their games in the round-robin section but lost in the gold medal game to the Kelowna Raiders. North Shore finished in third place in the four-team tournament, ahead of Vernon Royals of the Okanagan Xtreme League. In the Alcan Cup, played in Prince George the same weekend, the Vancouver Burrards were unable to repeat their silver medal appearance from the year before, losing to Regina Heat and Prince George BX Pub Bandits to finish in fifth place with a record of 1 win and 2 losses.

2009

The league saw further change during the off-season when it expanded to eight teams on February 26, 2009. The Coquitlam Cobras and Ladner Pioneers were accepted into the league as expansion teams while the Abbotsford Attack (now devoid of its Ladner-based players) moved across the Fraser River to Maple Ridge to become the Ridge Attack - later going by the name Maple Ridge Attack in 2010.

Port Moody Express repeated as British Columbia Senior 'C' provincial champions when they defeated the Armstrong Shamrocks and Kelowna Raiders in the three-team provincial tournament held in Armstrong during the August 14–16, 2009 weekend. In the Alcan Cup the following weekend, the Vancouver Burrards travelled to Prince George as the only visiting team entering the five-team tournament. Vancouver – who were reinforced with players picked up from the Port Moody Express and Armstrong Shamrocks – cruised through the round-robin section with a record of three wins and one loss against their Prince George opposition which then advanced them to the gold medal game for the second time in three years. They faced a re-match versus Prince George Shooters Pub Devils, against whom they had lost the previous day, but this time won 8-7 and took home their first Alcan cup title in five years.

2013

The league expanded back to eight teams in 2013 when Burnaby Lakers and Richmond Roadrunners joined. Vancouver Burrards adopted the North Shore Indians identity and wore their uniforms.

2016

The league expanded to nine teams in 2016 with the addition of the Mission Cedar Kings. Previously denied use of the Adanacs name when they joined the league in 2009, the Coquitlam Cobras were renamed Coquitlam Adanacs in 2016 to reflect the universal naming of all Coquitlam lacrosse teams from minor programmes through into senior leagues under the Adanacs name starting that year.

Teams

TeamEstablished
Burnaby Lakers2013
Coquitlam Adanacs2009
Ladner Pioneers2009
Mission Cedar Kings2016
North Shore Indians2003
Port Coquitlam Hitmen2003
Port Moody Express2003
Richmond Roadrunners2013
Ridge Attack2003

Current team name changes

Former teams

League Executive

League Commissioners

Chairmen of Board of Governors

Secretaries

Treasurers

Statisticians

Provincial Co-ordinator

Team Executives

Coquitlam Cobras

Ladner Pioneers

Ridge Attack (Abbotsford 2003-2008)

Port Coquitlam Hitmen

Port Moody Express

Vancouver Burrards

Former teams

North Shore Indians (2005–2009)

West Van Outlaws (2008–2009)

Regular season standings

W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OL = Overtime Losses, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, PTS = Points, AS = Assists, PEN = Penalties, PIM = Penalty Minutes

2003 SEASON
TEAMGPWLTOLGFGAPTSASPENPIM
Port Moody Express12101101125921147-300
Port Coquitlam Hitmen1274101229515174-132
Abbotsford Attack125520948212105-187
Vancouver Vipers120120049141064-128

Vancouver forfeited game to Port Moody 1-0 on May 10, 2003

2004 SEASON
TEAMGPWLTOLGFGAPTSASPENPIM
Port Moody Express12111001467822180133364
Port Coquitlam Hitmen126600109911213883201
Abbotsford Attack1266001071071212881234
Vancouver Vipers12111005714326954168
2005 SEASON
TEAMGPWLTOLGFGAPTSASPENPIM
Port Coquitlam Hitmen129210103861913878178
PoCoMo Express127410855915110129471
Vancouver Vipers12542184831310956152
North Shore Indians1248001291218172157447
Abbotsford Attack12390069121671117371

PoCoMo forfeited game 1-0 to Vancouver on July 23, 2005. Final PoCoMo vs. Vancouver game not played; result 0-0 tie

2006 SEASON
TEAMGPWLTOLGFGAPTSASPENPIM
Port Moody Express1210200995020128116365
North Shore Indians1284001087716124146414
Vancouver Burrards124602711031010077164
Abbotsford Attack12470182101987120341
Port Coquitlam Hitmen1248007310287382192

Port Moody forfeited game 1-0 to North Shore on July 16, 2006

2007 SEASON
TEAMGPWLTOLGFGAPTSASPENPIM
Port Moody Express1293001078118133138294
Port Coquitlam Hitmen1283101018515136112316
North Shore Indians125511899312112111291
Abbotsford Attack124602879510118131378
Vancouver Burrards12380188118710686202
2008 SEASON
TEAMGPWLTOLGFGAPTSASPENPIM
Port Moody Express15123001339224151142415
Port Coquitlam Hitmen15114001189722154109293
North Shore Indians1587001279416171185499
West Van Outlaws15680110911812137123323
Abbotsford Attack15510009910910141104306
Vancouver Burrards15311017214869294247

Abbotsford forfeited game 0-0 to Vancouver on April 12, 2008

2009 SEASON
TEAMGPWLTGFGAPTSASPENPIM
Port Moody Express1413101455626---
Ladner Pioneers1410401248220---
Port Coquitlam Hitmen14770717114---
Ridge Attack147708010114---
West Van Outlaws14770809514---
Coquitlam Cobras145817710011---
North Shore Indians14590889010---
Vancouver Burrards141121641343---
2010 SEASON
TEAMGPWLTGFGAPTSASPENPIM
Coquitlam Cobras1513111086127--246
Port Moody Express1510501166820--377
Ridge Attack15861798017--324
Ladner Pioneers1569010011012--410
Port Coquitlam Hitmen15591677611--347
Vancouver Burrards151131621373--200

Ridge forfeited game 1-0 to Port Coquitlam on June 11, 2010

2011 SEASON
TEAMGPWLTGFGAPTSASPENPIM
Port Moody Express1514011415729--242
Ladner Pioneers1510501098020--332
Coquitlam Cobras151050846120--179
Port Coquitlam Hitmen15681768113--307
Ridge Attack15411081898--252
Vancouver Burrards150150401630--114
2012 SEASON
TEAMGPWLTGFGAPTSASPENPIM
Port Moody Express15123016710324--303
Ladner Pioneers15104115111921--242
Coquitlam Cobras1510411279621--237
Ridge Attack1596013010418--363
Port Coquitlam Hitmen152130951394--287
Vancouver Burrards151140811902--174
2013 SEASON
TEAMGPWLTGFGAPTS
Port Moody Express1411301648922
Coquitlam Cobras1411301378522
Port Coquitlam Hitmen149501148318
Ladner Pioneers148601289116
Ridge Attack1486012410416
Richmond Roadrunners147708910114
Vancouver Burrard Indians141121921753
Burnaby Lakers140131411611

Burnaby Lakers forfeited game to Port Coquitlam Hitmen 1-0 on April 20, 2012

2014 SEASON
TEAMGPWLTGFGAPTS
Richmond Roadrunners141121926623
Coquitlam Cobras1411301106722
Port Moody Express1410311177621
Port Coquitlam Hitmen1410401038720
Ridge Attack14590809610
Vancouver Burrard Indians14491841179
Ladner Pioneers142120521064
Burnaby Lakers14112171943
2015 SEASON
TEAMGPWLTGFGAPTS
Port Moody Express1411301308222
Coquitlam Cobras1410401027120
Ridge Attack149501068918
Richmond Roadrunners148601538616
Port Coquitlam Hitmen148601229716
North Shore Indians1468010014112
Ladner Pioneers142120731514
Burnaby Lakers142120601294
2016 SEASON
TEAMGPWLTOLGFGAPTS
Port Moody Express16132101289327
Richmond Roadrunners161330014210626
Ridge Attack161240015510924
Coquitlam Adanacs161150016110022
Port Coquitlam Hitmen16781211911117
North Shore Indians16790111015215
Mission Cedar Kings164120210213210
Ladner Pioneers16412001091488
Burnaby Lakers1601600921670

Playoffs

2003 SEASON

2004 SEASON

2005 SEASON

2006 SEASON

2007 SEASON

2008 SEASON

2009 SEASON

2010 SEASON

2011 SEASON

2012 SEASON

2013 SEASON

2014 SEASON

2015 SEASON

2016 SEASON

Playoff Champions

Gale Lloyd Memorial Trophy
SeasonChampionFinalistResults
2003Port Coquitlam HitmenPort Moody Express12-10 OT
2004Port Moody ExpressPort Coquitlam Hitmen9-8 OT
2005Port Coquitlam HitmenPoCoMo Express10-8
2006Port Moody ExpressNorth Shore Indians11-3
2007Port Moody ExpressPort Coquitlam Hitmen15-14
2008Port Moody ExpressNorth Shore Indians10-8; 12-6
2009Port Moody ExpressPort Coquitlam Hitmen6-3; 5-6; 7-3
2010Port Moody ExpressCoquitlam Cobras9-5; 9-6 OT
2011Coquitlam CobrasPort Moody Express10-3, 3-7, 8-7
2012Port Moody ExpressLadner Pioneers10-8, 16-6
2013Coquitlam CobrasRichmond Roadrunners10-8, 10-8
2014Coquitlam CobrasRichmond Roadrunners10-6, 8-4
2015Port Moody ExpressRidge Attack11-10, 9-4
2016Port Moody ExpressRidge Attack5-4, 6-7, 6-4*

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References

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