The Burnaby Lakers are off to a fast season start in the West Coast Junior Lacrosse League.
The junior B Lakers improved their early season record to 6-1 following an 11-6 victory over last year's playoff semifinalist Richmond Roadrunners at Minoru Arena last Friday.
Playing with just nine runners against Richmond's full bench, the Lakers received big games from Aaron Roberts and team captain Kevan Galte to pace Burnaby to its sixth win in seven starts.
Galte, who is coming off a recent shoulder injury, showed no signs of having been out of practice, pacing the winners with four goals and four assists.
Roberts, who currently leads the league with 21 goals and is second in overall scoring with 34 points, also potted four goals while adding two helpers for Burnaby.
The Lakers fell behind 4-2 after the opening 20 minutes but reversed the score line in the middle stanza to head into the third period tied 6-6.
Burnaby's runners kept up the attack, scoring five times in the final frame while rookie goalie Cody Gilliam shut out the home team the rest of the way, finishing the game with 39 saves.
Gilliam is currently fourth overall in the league with a 0.884 save percentage and is first in that category among goalies who have played three games or more. He also leads the league in saves with 281 stops.
Burnaby is currently in a second-place tie with Port Coquitlam. Delta leads the Jr. B loop with a record of 7-1-1.
Burnaby took on No. 1 Delta at the Ladner Leisure Centre Monday (after NOW deadlines). The Jr. B Lakers home games are held at the Bill Copeland Sports Centre on Saturdays, beginning at 8 p.m.
