There was no accounting for the Burnaby Lakers dramatic change in play last week.
Buoyed by back-to-back wins over Langley and Victoria a week earlier, Burnaby looked every inch a contender despite a narrow 5-4 loss to the New Westminster Salmonbellies at Queen's Park Arena on June 13.
But a day later at home against a lesser opponent, the Lakers proved unworthy of their debut into the national senior A rankings, losing 16-11 to the last-place Nanaimo Timbermen at home last Friday.
That all changed Sunday, when Burnaby marched into Maple Ridge and came away with a well-deserved 11-7 result.
"It's hard to explain," said Burnaby head coach Rory McDade following the team's fifth game and third victory in 12 days. "We played real good in New West and real good in Maple Ridge. . But we're still looking for the consistency."
Burnaby's defence kept runaway goal-scoing leader Curtis Dickson off the scoresheet for the first time this season.
Western Lacrosse Association's player of the week Scott Jones found his groove again, leading all scorers with three goals and five assists in the win.
Jones scored his first off the opening faceoff and Burnaby never trailed in the contest, building up a 5-1 first-period lead.
The victory moved the Lakers back into a fourth-place tie with New Westminster.
Dane Stevens, who is on a nine-game goal scoring streak, moved up to second place in WLA scoring, tallying his second consecutive hat trick with a five-point effort for the Lakers.
Dan Lewis also earned a game star backstopping the win with 38 stops.
Jason Jones, who was picked up in a trade with Coquitlam that sent Scott Tinning and fifth-round draft pick Brock Whitely to the A's, added a goal and three helpers.
Chase Williams and Casey Jackson also had multi-goal games.
But at home, where the Lakers are 1-3, Burnaby couldn't cut it before its fans at the Bill Copeland Sports Centre.
Jackson opened the scoring on a screened shot from the left side, but the energy from the game before was noticeably absent in the overall team's play.
Nanaimo finally pulled away in the second period, scoring four times in a five-minute span and opening up a four-goal lead that it built on through to the end of the game.
Both starter Joe Bell and Lewis, who was a game star with 44 stops against New West the day before, couldn't match the play of Zach Boychuk, who had 43 stops at the other end of the arena.
"I don't know, we just seemed to come out real slow and then just couldn't find it," said Burnaby runner Jackson Decker.
Stevens led the Lakers on the scoresheet with three goals and four helpers. Jackson also had a solid night with two goals in a five-point offering. Colton Clark and Shaun Dhaliwal both pumped in a pair of goals from the right side.
But despite some offensive upside, the Lakers lack of defence never gave the impression that a win was ever in the cards.
"We were getting looks and working hard at times," Decker said. "We're talented, but we're not the most talented team. We have to bear down."
That was a quality the Lakers showed more of for most of the game against New Westminster.
While Burnaby fell behind 3-1 after 20 minutes, the Lakers had the better of the play in the remaing two periods and, but for the play of Salmonbellie keeper and first star Neil Tyacke, would likely have won that game.
Burnaby moved the ball well against the aggressive New West press, but had a hard time beating Tyacke, who put in his best performance of the season, kicking out 49 shots for his fourth win.
In the second period against the 'Bellies, Burnaby outshot the home team 26-11, but scored just once on Justin Salt's transition breakaway goal.
Burnaby plays host to the Langley Thunder at the Copeland centre on Friday. Game time is 7: 45 p.m.
