Maybe it was the early 6 p.m. start time, but the Burnaby Lakers couldn't overcome the deficit they’d dug themselves into in the first period in the opening game of their Western Lacrosse Association semifinal Thursday against the visiting Victoria Shamrocks.
Despite being outshot 17-11, the ’Rocks took a 3-0 lead after one period and then clung on to edge the Lakers 9-8 at Bill Copeland Arena in the best-of-seven series opener.
In the third period, Burnaby’s Robert Church narrowed the deficit to 6-5 at 3:11, but then Victoria got a pair of goals from Casey Jackson and one from Sheldon Burns to put the Lakers in 9-5 hole with six minutes left. Cam Milligan got one back on the powerplay, and with an extra attacker Burnaby scored two more in the final minute, one by Dane Stevens, with 59 seconds remaining, and the other by Church with 22 ticks left on the clock.
It was Church’s fourth goal of the game to go along with three assists. Milligan scored twice and added three helpers. Stevens scored twice and assisted on another.
Jackson had four goals and an assist for Victoria while Corey Small had a goal and five assists.
Aaron Bold made 41 saves for the win while Eric Penney made 27 saves in the Burnaby net.
The Lakers were without the services of standout sophomore Josh Byrne, who completed his contractual obligations Thursday with the Chesapeake Bayhawks in the Major Lacrosse League in record fashion. The New West native tallied seven goals to set a new rookie record in the pro field circuit, finishing with 39 goals in only nine games. He is expected to return to the Burnaby lineup this weekend.
The series will resume in Victoria on Saturday with Game 3 back at Copeland on Monday. Both start at 6 p.m.
Burnaby took top spot in the regular season for the first time with a 12-5-1 record. Victoria was fourth at 10-7-1.
