It reads like a Euro Cup soccer score between Hungary and Portugal, but it actually was a Western Lacrosse Association battle between two fierce boxla rivals.
They kept the fierceness in check most of the night on Sunday, with the Burnaby Lakers holding on to topple the first-place Maple Ridge Burrards 4-2.
On the strength of Dane Stevens' second period goal, which staked Burnaby to a 3-0 lead, the club improved to 4-4 on the season.
Jason Jones registered the game’s first goal, converting a set-up from Josh Byrne 3:59 into the opening period. Justin Salt doubled that lead off a transition nearly nine minutes later.
After Stevens increased the lead to 3-0, Maple Ridge got on the scoresheet when Ben McIntosh buried a shot behind Zak Boychuk with 12:47 to play in the second period. Byrne’s tally, with 5:40 remaining in the game, gave the visitors some breathing room. While the Burrards counted a goal with 2:18 to play, on an extra-attacker situation, they were unable to get any closer thanks to Boychuk and the defence.
After having been outshot 32-26 over the first 40 minutes, the Lakers got an edge in shot-wise with 14 in the final frame.
“If you consider the recent track record between the two teams, the low score isn’t a surprise,” Burnaby coach Rory McDade said. “In our first game (last month) we were 4-4 going into overtime, and we had another meeting where it was a low scoring game late in the third… It seems we’re always playing them tight.”
Behind a 40-save performance, Boychuk was selected the game’s first star, while Maple Ridge netminder Frank Scigliano turned aside 36 shots.
“Our goaltending was great. (Boychuk) stood on his head when we needed him early, because Maple Ridge had multiple chances but couldn’t put one past him,” noted McDade.
Despite missing defensive stalwarts like Peter McFeteridge, Bryan Safarik and Matt Beers, the Lakers did an admirable job shutting down the Burrards' top offensive threats and limiting them to few rebounds.
Perhaps even more amazing than the low score was that the two rivals – who had a controversial dust-up the last time they played at Cam Neely Arena that saw two suspensions and a controversial fine slapped on Maple Ridge, since overturned (although the final decision remains closed to the public) -- combined for four minutes in penalties, with both minors going against Burnaby.
“I think it’s more to do with the fact that everything is so tight, we are in fifth with four losses, and no team has less than three,” said McDade. “Honestly, if I watched the game tape I could find a few more penalties, but it was just two teams playing hard.”
The Lakers looked to get a leg-up on its playoff competition on Tuesday, when they hosted last-place Langley. On Thursday, Burnaby pays a visit to 5-3-1 New Westminster, 7:45 p.m. at Queen’s Park Arena.
