Burnaby girls matched last year's lacrosse medal haul, winning gold and two bronze at the B.C. Lacrosse Association minor box championships in Nanaimo.
Last year's bantam gold medallists from Burnaby stepped up to midget to claim a second straight provincial title.
Burnaby's peewee and bantam teams also medalled, winning the consolation finals in their respective divisions.
The midget girls won gold with a 6-2 victory over Ridge Meadows. But a bigger win was a do-or-die 2-1 overtime win against Ridge Meadows that put the Lakers into the final four. Kaitlyn Yan tallied the game-winning goal in the first period of OT.
The Lakers then scored a 9-4 win over New Westminster No. 2 that avenged Burnaby's only loss at the provincials, a 4-3 defeat earlier in the week.
"That loss to New West was the best thing that could have happened to the team," said Burnaby co-coach Nicole Kelly. "We needed to prove something."
That something translated into a huge semifinal win over New West 2 that put Burnaby into the final. Team captain Anna Benevoli led the way with two goals in the semifinal.
But if Kelly needed any assurance that the Lakers were ready to play the final, she got it when she walked into the team's dressing room prior to the final.
There she saw the girls in a circle with their arms around each other screaming in excitement.
"I knew right then and there, they were ready to go and nothing we could say to them would change the outcome of the game," said Kelly.
She was right. Burnaby vaulted out to an early 4-1 lead and was never threatened.
Amie Morrison, who left the game after a hard back check, came back in the final period to score Burnaby's sixth goal.
Burnaby goalie Samantha Thomson and runner Jolene Robinson were solid all tournament long.
Cassidy Ring was Burnaby's fair play winner.
The bantam girls went to double overtime against Ridge Meadows before fair play winner, Tea Cecic, scored the 3-2 game-winner with a low bounce shot early in the second period of extra time to win bronze.
"They (Ridge Meadows) were our bug-a-boo. We had some problems beating Ridge Meadows,"
said Burnaby coach Paul Kuhn.
Carley Spagnuolo and Rachel Mackie also tallied for the Laker girls. Tournament all-star Kirsten Geyer was Burnaby's player of the game in the final.
Burnaby bounced back after a shutout loss to New Westminster No. 2 in the opening game, knocking off both Nanaimo and league runner-up Port Coquitlam to advance to the final four.
Spagnuolo and Geyer scored a pair of goals apiece against Nanaimo, while Sarah Kuhn potted two in Burnaby's 6-3 win over PoCo. Goalie Lizzie Morrison was named player of the game in the win.
Burnaby took a one-point deficit into the final period against eventual gold medallist New West No. 1 before losing its semifinal match 5-2. The Burnaby peewee team also won a bronze following a 4-2 win over Coquitlam No. 2.
The peewee's only loss was to eventual champion Ridge Meadows 5-2 in the semifinals. Burnaby also defeated eventual finalist New Westminster No. 2 in pool play by a 4-3 score.
"We were a team that played its best lacrosse when it mattered most," said peewee head coach Tony Spagnuolo.
Burnaby was led offensively by captain Gabby Zenone, Lauren Comack and Nicole Kuhn. Emma Regan was voted an all-star, while Gigi Fabbro was outstanding in goal for the peewee team.
Julia Spagnuolo Anja Wilderjans, Anna MacGregor, Brigita Cecic, Cassie Hinada, Georgia Cheung, Isabella Pires, Martina Fadi, Menka Prasad, Montana Michayluk and Zoe Oliver were all solid in the defensive end. Alexis Mellish was the winner of the fair play award. Kate Ewanchook, Elissa Gounder and Kaela Hansen were missing from the provincials, but contributed to the team's success this season.
Success is something the Burnaby girls' lacrosse program is getting used to says the program coordinators.
"Honestly, I think we'll be even a little bit stronger next year," said Kuhn. "The strength of that midget team is first-years, and we have dozens of players at each level. We have a good number of kids coming along age by age. I can't see a weakness, and that's the way it's been going."
Kelly, who shares the coordinator duties with Kuhn, is equally proud of what the association has accomplished.
"I think a huge part of it is we have a large number of older girls coming back and helping out. I'm excited for Burnaby in the future," Kelly said.
