It had drama, thrills and tension.
For the Burnaby Lakers players and their fans, unfortunately there was also a heap of disappointment.
The Victoria Shamrocks won the battle of the green jerseys, advancing to the Western Lacrosse Association final by besting Burnaby 8-7 before a crowd of about 1,000 fans at the Copeland Sports Centre on Tuesday.
The result, which was Victoria's second year of outlasting the Lakers over a seven-game series, rested greatly upon netminder Aaron Bold, who stood his ground over a barrage of Burnaby shots. Certainly the Lakers would have liked to establish a stronger presence on Bold's crease and a fast-break goal or two. But there is no Marty McFly or a time-travelling DeLorean waiting in the Burnaby Lake parking lot.
Burnaby held thin leadsfor the first half of the game but looked a little nervous doing it. Eli McLaughlin and Jackson Decker put the Lakers up 2-1 after 20 minutes, but the squad wasn't able to truly capitalize on a five-minute high sticking major handed to Victoria's Gregg Harnett. The powerplay did produce a goal just 31 seconds into the second, on a Robert Church blast from the high slot. But Victoria countered that with a shorthanded effort by Tyler Hass just a minute later to nullify that advantage.
The 'Rocks pulled even midway through the frame on former Burnaby sniper Casey Jackson's extra-man marker -- just 11 seconds into Victoria's powerplay -- but the Lakers retook the lead when Josh Byrne talliedwith 8:31 left in the second period.
However, it was Byrne's only goal of the game, as Bold had the New West native's number the rest of the evening. While only credited with six shots, Byrne had nearly a dozen more in-tight attempts go wide or clang off the iron. At the same time
Victoria then got on a roll, getting goals from Chris Wardle and Joe Resetarits 50 seconds apart to lead for the first time. The toughest blow came with time winding down and a loose ball within reach, only to see Jackson scoop it up a fire it past Eric Penney just as the buzzer went. That put Burnaby behind by two and 10 minutes to think about it.
They responded well when Dane Stevens converted a nice set-up from Byrne 2:05 into the third frame, but Resetarits connected for his third of the night and 11th of the series, on a delayed penalty call, just minutes after Bold stopped Justin Salt and McLaughlin on half-breakaways.
Jackson put the 'Rocks ahead by three with 5:37 to play, putting the onus on the Lakers to pull a big rally out of their equipment bag.
Burnaby made a serious push and scored twice with Penney on the bench, but by the time Decker netted his second of the game there was just 12 seconds left on the clock.
Just as the talent on paper gave the home team the advantage, so did the shots. The Lakers outshot Victoria 56-39, including 25 shots in the third, but left the building thinking what could have been.
“Not the way we wanted it to go," Burnaby coach Peter Tellis said. "The guys battled hard and worked hard and competed to their best ability. It’s unfortunate that we made a couple of mistakes along the way but we can’t take anything away from Victoria. They are a good team. They came out and played their best and we came up just a little short."
Byrne finished with a goal and three assists, while Stevens had three points. The 'Rocks also got a hat trick from Jackson, while Corey Small chipped in three assists.
The coach, who took over behind the bench after management fired Jim Milligan with three games remaining in the regular season, said he was proud of the players and how they pushed it to the limits. Sometimes the result just doesn't go the way you want, he said.
"It sucks in Game 7 that the bounces in lacrosse needed to go well but unfortunately today they didn’t. Yes, (Victoria has) some experience but we’ve got plenty of experience in this room. I don’t think it played a part in it, maybe it did but I don’t think it did. The fact is we play what’s on the floor and I could care what happened last year or years previous; we’re playing six inches in front of our face."
As to his evaluation on the season and experience, Tellis said it was too soon to discuss.
“I haven’t even thought that far, to tell you the truth. This is pretty fresh, it still stings," he said. "It stings for the guys in the room, it stings. It’s going to take some time to get over, to evaluate this last part of the season, how things went and what went well and continue to build off the positives."
Victoria now goes on to play either New Westminster or Maple Ridge in the WLA final; those two teams face-off Wednesday in Game 7 of their semifinal, with the victor holding home floor advantage in the next round. The B.C. champion will host the Mann Cup championship series against the winner of the Ontario Major League final.
