It’s been a handful of years since Canada tossed the penny, but opposing teams wish they could do the same with the Burnaby Lakers’ netminder.
Eric Penney proved once again to be a thorn in the side of opposition shooters, frustrating the Maple Ridge Burrards in a rare Tuesday tilt where Burnaby emerging with an 8-4 victory at the Bill Copeland Sports Complex.
Penney turned aside 47 shots and benefited from a standout team defence as the Burrards’ snipers were held goalless until the 31st minute. It would be hard to quibble with the theory that this was Burnaby’s best performance of the season.
“Penney coming out playing the way he did, putting up a shutout in the first period, was huge for the defence,” remarked first-year defender Ryland Rees. “We’re just trying to get to their hands and not give them those open opportunities. Penney stepped up when he did, defence came to play and the offence did its job.”
The win catapulted Burnaby past Maple Ridge into lone possession of first place in the Western Lacrosse Association with a 7-2 record.
Two goals in the first period from veteran Daryl Veltman set the table, and Rees sandwiched a pair of second-period tallies around Maple Ridge’s Colton Porter’s marker midway through the frame to make it 4-1.
The Burrards made a big push on tallies by Matthew Dinsdale, late in the second, and Mike Mallory, at 1:43 into the third, to get within a goal.
A few minutes after Mallory's marker, Penney repelled Dinsdale from in close to protect the 4-3 lead. Burnaby captain Dane Stevens responded with two goals within a 1:04 span, making it 6-3. While Mallory would pop in another tally for the Burrards, the Lakers finished it off on goals by Robert Church and Stevens’ third of the night to hand Maple Ridge it's fourth straight loss.
Neither team was able to convert on two powerplay chances.
Earlier in the week, Rees was named the Defensive Player of the Week in the Major (field) Lacrosse League. Making the jump from junior and field to the WLA has gone as well as the No. 2 pick overall in the 2019 Junior Draft expected.
“It’s good. (The WLA) is fast paced but I’m enjoying it," said Rees. "It’s a little more aggressive, fast paced but a good group of guys make everything that much better. It’s always nice coming into a new team, being in and out, just being able to come in and bond and feel part of the team right away."
The depth on defence, which also received a boost with the return of Matt Beers, captain of the Vancouver Warriors, has kept everyone fresh and eleviated any concerns for players like Rees who have a two-league commitment.
Penney and the defence continue to set an impressive tone, general manager Kevin Hill noted.
“Honestly, this is probably our best game all year, a solid 60 minutes from everyone all around. Fantastic D, Penney played unreal and everyone was contributing on offence. It was a fantastic game on all facets,” said Hill.
The lone negative was the loss of Veltman, who missed the final 40 minutes after suffering an upper-body injury.
In his absence, transition player Brandon Clelland moved into an offensive role, as well as continuing to handle all of the team’s faceoffs.
The Lakers sit atop the WLA standings, two points ahead of the Burrards and with two games in hand, and enter the long weekend with a pair of big tests – Friday against third-place New West at the Copeland arena (7:30 p.m.), and Sunday on the road against 4-2 Nanaimo.
