Last year is really old news.
By the effort and result shown in their Western Lacrosse Association season opener, the Burnaby Lakers are looking to bury all memories of that disappointing season, too.
Burnaby launched the 2019 season
with a well-balanced 11-5 win over the Coquitlam Adanacs on Saturday, showing surprising cohesion.
Powered by four-goal efforts from captain Dan Stevens and Robert Church, and a 49-save performance by goalie Eric Penney, the Lakers shook off a 4-2 deficit early in the second and held sway the rest of the evening.
Although the Adanacs took the lead with a pair of goals to start the second period, the visitors replied quickly on tallies by Scott Jones, Church and newcomer Daryl Veltman in a span of 2:32 to flip the advantage.
Stevens would connect on the eventual game-winner four minutes later on a short-man chance.
“I think the emotions kind of got us there, we took a few silly penalties but Penney played well,” remarked Veltman, who made his debut in Laker
colours after spending the past two seasons in his hometown of Brampton.
“(Penney) bailed us out too many times. When you’ve got a guy like that between the pipes you take a few more chances on offence and we capitalized on some of them.”
Penney, who missed part of last year – and it’s disappointing 6-11-1 tally – was ready for a heavy work load.
“I was expecting a lot of rubber tonight,” said Penney. “We prepared last week for Coquitlam specifically, on where we wanted them to shoot, and our defence did a great job doing that. They let me see the ball, and whenever you do that you’ve got a good chance to put up good numbers.”
Scott Jones chipped in with two goals and three assists, while Veltman finished with a goal and three helpers.
The new additions, along with a fresh start, has everyone feeling positive about this year, said Penney, who made only two starts a year ago.
“Personally, I was out for injury (most of) last year, and any time you miss it (you) start looking forward to next year. In the offseason we made some good draft picks. We know we’re not going to win every game by a landslide, we have to work hard every game. We have to come ready to work hard for 60 minutes plus,” he said.
The win was a collective effort, noted coach Peter Tellis, and a result of having more starters in the lineup earlier in the season.
“We have guys from previous seasons, guys like Pete McFetridge who has come back, so it’s night and day from how we started the season last year, in a very positive way. We just want to continue building from one game at a time,” said Tellis.
Penney is going to seize that opportunity, too. Although his Vancouver Warriors didn’t make the NLL playoffs, the team did experience some positive growth. The 25-year-old netminder played the bulk of the minutes and boosted his save percentage.
Because stopping the ball is both about the physical and mental elements, the Rexdale, Ont. native anticipates better days ahead.
“Coming in off the NLL year I had I feel pretty confident and I’m just going to ride that wave. Goaltending is a lot about confidence, so I’m just going to keep preparing the way I do. Just have fun when I’m out there,” said Penney.
Burnaby visits Victoria on Friday and Maple Ridge on Sunday. They don’t play their first home game until June 7, when Maple Ridge comes to the Copeland.
