The roller coaster ride that is becoming the norm in Western Lacrosse Association play, continued for the Burnaby Lakers last weekend.
The senior A Lakers appeared to have put last week's hiccups behind them following an inspired 8-4 victory over the defending playoff champion Langley Thunder on Friday.
But that hard work took a disappointing step backward after Burnaby fell 117 in Coquitlam on the following night to the mercurial Adanacs.
The current result left Burnaby within a win or a loss of six other clubs in the seven-team loop. Only frontrunner Victoria appears some-what immune to the inconsistencies of the other six teams despite Sunday's 109 loss in Maple Ridge.
The logjam for the top four playoff spots will almost certainly be determined in the final two weeks of the schedule.
That is little consolation to Burnaby, which is still trying to get a grip on consistancy from one game to the next.
"That (Coquitlam) series is probably the biggest series we have going. If we win that series, we'll be in good shape," said Burnaby's first star Scott Jones following Friday's win over Langley.
A win against the A's would have vaulted the Lakers into second place. Instead, Burnaby sits somewhat uncomfortably in fourth spot with a sub-par 5-6-0 record.
"Going into Maple Ridge (last week) - it's a tough place to play - I think that might have been a wakeup call," Jones said.
But it seems that otherwise encouraging outcome last week was little more than a footnote to a larger novel that is slowly revealing a new chapter each week.
On Friday, the stars appeared to align for the Lakers.
Dan Lewis had one of his most consistent outings in goal, looking solid kicking out 33 Langley shots and allowing just four goals against, including one each in both the second and third periods.
Jones led all scorers with two goals and three assists, while newly acquired Jason Jones from Coquitlam potted his first hat trick with the Burnaby club.
Burnaby's top draft pick Robert Church played in his first game for the Lakers, scoring in his WLA debut at 5: 01 of the opening period.
Team scoring leader Dane Stevens got the eventual game-winning goal midway through the second period, finishing off a five-on-three power play from the left crease.
"We wanted to come out and compete as a team, and that was as close to a full 60 minutes as we've got all year," said Scott Jones.
In Coquitlam, the Lakers appeared to have costly lapses in the game that the A's were able to capitalize on.
Burnaby was whistled down for 47 minutes in penalties to Coquitlam's 26, and the A's made the visitors pay with four goals on the extra-man.
First and third stars Brett Hickey and Jeff Zywicki closed out the opening
frame with goals fewer than two minutes apart to give the home team a 4-3 advantage.
Coquitlam then scored four times in a eight-minute spell in the middle frame, sparked by Hickey and Zywicki's hat trick marker.
In the final period, Scott Tinning, who was recently dealt to the A's in exchange for Jason Jones, tallied twice, including the game-winner to open the third.
Scott Jones led the Lakers with two goals and two assists. Stevens, who had his 10-game goal-scoring streak stopped in Coquitlam, also had a four-point game.
The Lakers do not play this weekend due to the Canada Day holiday. Their next game is July 3 in Victoria.
Burnaby's next home game is Friday, July 5, when the club will retire former senior A all-star Russ Heard's No. 9 jersey in a pre-game ceremony at the Bill Copeland Sports Centre.
