The Burnaby juniors took their lumps with back-to-back losses to the surging Victoria Shamrocks last week.
The junior A Lakers fell 12-7 in Victoria on Saturday and then lost 18-7 in a scrappy B.C. Junior Lacrosse League affair at the Bill Copeland Sports Centre on Father’s Day.
“We just got to keep working hard. It doesn’t matter what the score is,” said Burnaby’s first-year transition Anthony Quatrano, who had a pair of goals in the game.
The men in black blew up nearly 200 minutes in penalties, more than 130 of them to the home Lakers, despite a level of aggressiveness that was anything but one-sided.
In Victoria, Burnaby outshot the home team 51-36 but a six-goal second period for the ’Rocks proved the difference in the overall outcome.
Tyler Kirkby led the Lakers with two goals and two assists. Justin Appels also potted a pair of counters.
At home, Victoria took advantage of their time on the extra man, slotting seven goals on the power play, three of them coming in what appeared to be a runaway 7-3 first period.
Under-age junior Tyler Vogrig tallied a pair of first-period goals, including his first shorthanded marker.
But Burnaby stuck to its systems, narrowing the deficit to 9-8 on four straight goals by Randy Jones.
Victoria answered with a pair of shorties a minute apart and a third on a break to close the second period.
The final period went quickly downhill.
The twin losses left the junior Lakers in seventh place two points up on last-place Port Coquitlam.
It gets no easier for the 3-11-1 Burnaby club this week as the Lakers jump out of the pot and into the fire, taking on New Westminster in a rare Thursday game at Queen’s Park Arena at 8 p.m. Burnaby then hosts the Coquitlam Adanacs at the Bill Copeland Sports Centre on Sunday at the usual time of 7 p.m.
Game day
The much awaited second game against the two junior A league juggernauts New Westminster and Coquitlam takes place today (Wednesday) at the Coquitlam Sports Centre. Face off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
New Westminster won the opening game of the three-game season series 11-5 at Queen’s Park Arena on May 27.
