THE CANADIAN PRESS
OKOTOKS, Alta. — Mark Cockerton scored four goals and Zack Higgins made 42 saves Sunday as the Whitby Warriors defeated the Coquitlam Adanacs 12-7 and won the 2011 Minto Cup.
Whitby won the best-of-three tournament championship series 2-1 and claimed Canada’s indoor lacrosse title.
Defending champion Coquitlam won the series opener 14-8, but Withby responded with a resounding 17-7 win in Game 2 before wrapping up the series Sunday.
It was just the third loss of the year for the Adanacs.
Mark Matthews had three assists for Whitby and ended the tournament with 23 points in four games.
Ryan Serville scored twice while Dan Linter had a goal and three assists for the Warriors, who pulled away with four straight goals in the third period.
Kyle Lindsay, John LaFontaine, Shayne Jackson, Emerson Clark and Chad Tutton also scored for Whitby.
Travis Cornwall led Coquitlam with five assists, while Ben McIntosh scored twice and Tor Reinholdt had a goal and three assists.
Matthew Dinsdale, Casey Jackson, Jackson Decker and Wesley Berg also scored.
Steve Fryer and Josh Phillips combined for 30 saves on 41 shots for Coquitlam.
Whitby came out flying in the first period, scoring three times before the 10 minute mark.
Lindsey, LaFontaine and Cockerton’s goals visibly agitated the Adanacs as Myan Adams was called for high-sticking at 11:34. Shayne Jackson promptly added Whitby’s fourth goal on the power play.
The Warriors continued to dominate until McIntosh beat Higgins with just 23.7 seconds remaining in the period.
Coquitlam managed to get a handle on their offence in the second period but Whitby hung on to maintain a one goal lead after 40:00 of play. Cockerton led the charge for Whitby, scoring on both shots he put on net.
Higgins came up big for Whitby early in the third period when Coquitlam sent shot after shot on net. After the Warriors were able to shore up their defence, their offence carried them the rest of the way.
Cockerton, Lintner, Serville and Tutton all scored in the period while Coquitlam wasn’t able to find a way to beat Higgins.