The scoreline appeared the same, but there were more positives than negatives in the Burnaby Lakers 13-5 loss to the Langley Thunder at the Bill Copeland Sports Centre on Sunday.
Unlike Burnaby's one-sided B.C. Junior Lacrosse League home-opening loss to the Port Coquitlam Saints last week, the junior A Lakers gave a much better account of themselves despite the final outcome.
The only devastating breakdowns in productivity came in a 12-minute spell to start the second period and an equally long period of time to close the game. In that accumulated one-period spell, the Lakers gave up 10 goals, with just one in reply, suggesting there was promise in their play in the other two-thirds of the game.
In fact, Burnaby held its own in the opening stanza, closing the period down 3-2 following the first two junior A goals for 19-yearold runner Justin Appels.
The Lakers lost focus in the second and were outshot 24-5 overall, falling behind 9-3 on the scoreboard. But that stat could be misleading. Down 9-2 after giving up six goals on Langley's first nine shots of the period, Burnaby settled down after a solid short-man rag, with Xander McDonald stopping the next dozen shots. McDonald faced 59 shots in the Burnaby goal.
Burnaby opened the final period with team captain Peyton Lupul potting his first goal of the season, while Appels registered his first-ever junior A hat trick to halve the lead to 10-5 midway through the final frame.
"We played a lot better. The energy was better, and heads were up," said Appels. "We just got to practise (keeping our feet moving) even off the ball and get better at it."
Indeed, stringing good back-to-back periods will be the challenge for Burnaby early in the season. How well they respond could be the measuring stick for how far the team goes in making an honest improvement.
"We've got to keep playing. Whether we're up by 10 goals or down by 10," Appels added. "It's tough, you hate losing, but you have to start somewhere."
Burnaby's next game is in Nanaimo on Saturday before coming back to the Copeland centre for a home matchup against the Coquitlam Adanacs on Sunday at 7 p.m.
