For the first time since he pulled on a green jersey, Ontario native Cam Milligan was held pointless. But it wasn’t through a lack of effort.
Milligan was one of many shooters left shaking their heads after Tuesday’s 10-10 tie between the Burnaby Lakers and Nanaimo Timbermen.
After 70 minutes of back-and-forth runs, the visiting T-men headed for the ferry happy to have rallied for a tie.
The Lakers, meanwhile, accepted the deadlock as proof that the league is a parable of parity and penalties can come back to bite you.
Netminders Zak Boychuk and Peter Dubenski combined to stop 107 shots, surviving the virtual shooting gallery with their head’s held high.
Milligan said the result underscored how every game is in play this year in the Western Lacrosse Association.
“(Teams) two through six are in a battle in this league, any night any team can beat a team,” said Milligan, a first-year senior. “That’s a young team over there. They outworked us and stole a point from us.”
At a couple of key points Burnaby pushed ahead by two goals, including in overtime when Shaun Dhaliwal and Dane Stevens gave the home team a 10-8 lead just 2:15 into the extra session.
But Nanaimo found a hole in the defensive coverage and broke free, with the equalizer coming with 1:24 left in the game.
For just the third time this year, Milligan came away empty-handed, despite getting eight shots on goal.
“I was a little bit snake-bitten. (Dubenski) played well and 60 shots for both teams, that’s a lot of shots on goal. (I) just wasn’t finding it tonight,” said Milligan.
A Peterborough native, Milligan moved west last summer as a late import for the Delta Islanders playoff drive. He liked it so much that when his college season in Vermont wrapped up he returned. It didn’t hurt that his dad, Jim, had taken over the coaching and managing helm with the club.
“Coming from Peterborough, they’re always a powerhouse back home. Once my dad came here it was a little easier to make the decision to come here,” he said.
After wrapping up his fourth year at the University of Vermont, where he was captain of the field lacrosse team, the righthander made the choice to return west. Since his arrival, Milligan has contributed nine goals and 14 assists in seven games, establishing good chemistry with his new teammates.
The adjustments are what they are – players are bigger and quicker at the senior level, the game is more physical. But one adjustment is also coming along.
“I never thought of being anything but a Peterborough Laker but once I got here so many avenues and doors opened and I’m glad I’m here,” he said, noting his favourite players growing up were John Grant Jr. and Tracey Kelusky. He remembers when they disappeared from the Peterborough lineups to play for the WLA's Coquitlam Adanacs.
Now, the focus is on being part of a Mann Cup chase here in Burnaby.
“I think we’re close. On paper we have the lineup; it’s just a matter of getting those pieces together in the lineup and on the same page.”
The 4-3-1 Lakers visit Coquitlam on Saturday.
