The fear of falling behind 3-0 was not as big a motivator as was the desire to show what the sum of their parts can do.
When the dust settled Monday, the Burnaby Lakers used both as fuel to soak the Victoria Shamrocks 13-4 in Game 3 of their best-of-seven Western Lacrosse Association semifinal at the Copeland Sports Centre.
Tyler Digby put Burnaby on the board just 36 seconds in, and while the Shamrocks tied it up, the home squad responded with four straight goals to go ahead 5-1.
The eventual winning goal came with 2:15 left in the first, off the stick of sniper Josh Byrne. The lanky forward faked a shot in the slot with his stick high, then dropped his stick waist high to beat Victoria starter Aaron Bold.
Momentum, and curtailing any waves going the other way, proved to be key for the Lakers, who were feeling the pressure of being down 2-0 in the series to a sharp Shamrocks crew.
Although Victoria counted the final goal of the first and closed the gap to 5-3 just three minutes into the second, the Lakers displayed the kind of resolve that earned them their first league regular season title. They reeled off five more goals before the end of the period, including back-to-back tallies by Cam Milligan, which gave him three on the evening.
Digby also collected a hat trick, while captain Robert Church netted a pair and set up five others. Chipping in with a goal and four assists was Eli McLaughlin.
At the other end, the defence, led by Matt Beers, Nathan Klein and Justin Salt, kept Victoria’s top snipers to the perimeter of netminder Eric Penney, who faced 38 shots.
“It was nice, for the first couple of games (Church) was doing a lot, so we needed guys to come up and support him,” said coach Peter Tellis. “It was nice getting Eli (McLaughlin) hot, he played exceptional for us, same with Cam Milligan, and Digby played huge for us.”
The Lakers did it without Jason and Scott Jones, who were both injured in the first game of the series. They both posted goal-a-game results during the regular season, and in their absence the offence has had to fill the void. On Monday, they did.
“It takes every single guy out there,” said Digby. “I just try to come in and play my game, do the things I do well – setting picks and getting guys open. I think everyone on this team realizes we have a role, and when we stick to each role we are a real good team.”
Burnaby remains behind the 8-ball, however, as Wednesday’s Game 4 puts them back in Victoria where a boisterous crowd awaits. It was also the setting where the Lakers saw a 5-1 lead evaporate over 35 minutes last Saturday in Game 2, as the ’Rocks rallied for a 9-6 victory.
Keeping the ball rolling and building on what they brought in Game 3 is front-and-centre now.
“(In Game 2) we didn’t get that bounce-back goal, and we kind of got into a dog fight and couldn’t pull it out,” remarked Digby. “I think it showed a lot of growth in our game in just being able to bear down (Monday) and finding a way to get that goal and build that lead.”
Tellis agreed and noted the club’s work level has to remain at a high level to contain Victoria as much as possible.
“I believe just continue doing what we’ve done all series. We’ve been playing good lacrosse but the first game the bounces didn’t go our way. Today they started going our way,” he said.
The series returns to Burnaby on Friday, 6 p.m. for Game 5.
