The Burnaby Lakers are reveling in their new-found B.C. Junior Lacrosse League identity.
Burnaby – last season’s laughing stock – knocked off the Delta Islanders 10-9 at the Bill Copeland Sports Centre on Mother’s Day.
The victory came on the heels of a 13-10 win in Langley on May 8.
“It’s a great day to be a Laker,” bellowed B.C. player of the week David Mather as he left the floor.
That sentiment would have been heard only in jest in 2013, but with a current record of 2-2 and avenging last Sunday’s 17-9 loss to the Islanders, Burnaby’s fortunes and expectations are changing rapidly.
“That first win in Langley was nice, but Delta is supposed to be one of the better teams,” said Mather, who stopped 52 shots for his second win of the campaign. “We’re a competitive team, which we couldn’t have said last year.”
The steadily improving Lakers took a 1-0 lead on Langley free agent pickup Evan Hunt’s game-opening goal.
Tyler Vogrig, Burnaby’s first overall pick in the midget draft, had a career night, scoring three times and adding four assists.
Burnaby held a 6-4 advantage heading into the final period, but Delta staged a mini-comeback of its own, taking a 9-8 lead with five goals in a four-minute span in the first half of the third.
Randy Jones led all scorers with four tallies, including an unassisted comeback game-tying goal late in the contest.
Lyndon Book completed the rally, potting his first junior A goal at 15:38 of the final frame.
“We’ve had the talent, but just not the will to compete everyday,” said Mather, who came from Delta in an off-season trade.
But head coach Brad Parker’s team has been addressing the Lakers’ past inconsistencies each week with progressively better results. Mather expects that attitude change to continue.
“It’s going to be huge,” he said. “Winning is a new experience we’re not used to here. But once you get one (win), now we’re going to want another one.”
