All moral victories aren’t created equally.
The one the Burnaby junior Lakers achieved on Sunday should be filed away among the better kind.
Kicking off the 2016 B.C. Junior A Lacrosse League season, the Lakers put in a herculean rally against one of the circuit’s most offensive powerhouses, forcing overtime before getting bumped 13-12 in a 70-minute contest at the Copeland Sports Complex.
The Delta Islanders scored three times in the 10-minute extra session, sandwiched around a pair of Burnaby tallies, to improve to 2-0 on the year.
The Lakers, meanwhile, demonstrated immense character in shaking off a rough beginning that saw them fall behind by six goals with just 25 minutes to play.
“The turning point for us was, we were playing really bad but we were still in the game and that’s what we really hung on to,” said veteran forward Danny Spagnuolo. “We really tried to take that next step and come together, that’s what it was.”
Down 9-3 with minutes left in the middle frame didn’t dissuade the Lakers. After closing within five goals, things really took off when Burnaby scored back-to-back powerplay goals in the third, part of a five-goal run for the club.
Spagnuolo, with five, and Wyatt Pinder, with a hat trick, led the attack.
In overtime, Pinder rounded out the hat trick and put Burnaby in front, but Tre LeClaire tied it. The Islanders netted two more to stake out a bigger lead, with Spagnuolo making it a one-goal game with 24 seconds left.
After a hectic first period where he surrendered six goals on 23 shots, netminder Thomas Hankins was a major standout for the club, facing 65 in 70 minutes. Rookie Jordan Gabriele scored twice, while Cody Tracey picked up five assists and Kyle Heiling added four of his own.
Delta’s Leclaire, expected to be a front-runner for the league scoring title again, netted five goals and two assists, while Evan Messenger contributed thee goals.
It wasn't a moral victory that Burnaby was working towards, nor will it be something they'll settle for down the road either.
"We do have to focus on the positives. We came together, we worked together and we did lose together. But we’re going to come together next week. That’s the biggest thing, come back together, how we respond and how we take the next step," said Spagnuolo.
Having virtually matched powerhouse Delta goal-for-goal, without last year's leading scorer in uniform, bodes well for when Aidan Milburn returns from college in a month, his teammate said.
“We’ve got the best goal scorer in the league, don’t we?" he said, referring to Milburn. "(Milburn) is going to be one guy to watch when he comes back. Kyle Heiling is another guy who can put the ball in the cage and he didn’t get any (goals) tonight. There are a lot of lthings here that are under wraps that no one knows about. We want to make sure that we can keep positive, keep everyone going for when those guys come back and in full form."
Burnaby hosts Nanaimo on Saturday, 3:30 p.m. On Sunday they take on Victoria, 5 p.m. at the Copeland Sports Complex.
