Hopefully, this one won’t come back to bite them.
The Burnaby Lakers poured out a strong performance and gave way to a hard-charging Coquitlam rally on Saturday, ending in an 8-7 loss.
The Adanacs’ Ryan Johnson capped a four-goal run against the Lakers, burying a short shot past Tye Belanger with just 13 seconds left in regulation to give the home team the win.
Last year, the club missed the playoffs after finishing tied for fourth place, but having a worse goals-for and against differential. And this year’s playoff race looks like it will be equally as tight.
Burnaby, which sits fifth in the Western Lacrosse Association with a 3-3 record, had earlier built up a three-goal advantage with a pair of markers to start the third.
But a stand-out effort from former Lakers netminder Dan Lewis cued up Coquitlam’s rally, which started with 9:33 to play and saw a powerplay tally followed by a shorthanded goal before a last-minute blitz.
The Adanacs tied the game with 39 seconds on the clock with Lewis on the bench for an extra attacker, then repeated the feat for Johnson’s winner.
It was a game that Burnaby had battled back from an early deficit to stake out its lead. Trailing 2-0 and 4-3, the visitors counted two markers to end the middle frame – by Robert Church and Jason Jones – then kicked off the third with two more – from Jones, with his second, and Steven Neufeld.
Then the tide turned.
Lewis finished the night with 39 saves, while Belanger turned aside 33 Adanac shots.
Also scoring for Burnaby were Tyler Digby, with two, and Josh Byrne.
The Lakers, who host second-place Victoria tonight (Tuesday), visit first place Maple Ridge on Sunday.
