The Burnaby Lakers did not go gently into that good night.
The senior A Lakers showed the makings of better seasons ahead after a series-ending 1110 loss to the regular season champion Langley Thunder in Western Lacrosse Association playoffs in Aug. 9.
Down 3-0 in the best-of seven semifinal, Burnaby put together its best second period of the playoffs, quickly erasing a 3-1 first-period deficit on Scott Jones' uplifting shorthanded goal early in the frame.
Jones, who led the Lakers in playoff scoring with 13 points, tallied his second goal of the game six minutes later to give Burnaby its biggest lead of the series.
Langley rallied to take back the lead later in the period, but the Lakers countered with two more of their own from Scott Tinning and Matt Quinton to take a 7-6 advantage into the final 20 minutes.
But a Game 5 was not to be. With the pressure coming from both doors on the Langley bench Burnaby struggled to keep the lead, scoring first with Quinton's second of the game and later on Chase Williams' overhand shot from the left side.
Minutes later, a loose ball rebound by Matt MacGrotty led to Langley tying the game at 99 for a third time in the period. Thunder sniper Athan Iannucci then gave Langley the lead, scoring back-to-back markers, including a Hall of Fame goal one-handed with his second of three goals on the night.
"In the end, the guys from Langley, who were supposed to get the job done, did get the job done," said Burnaby head coach and WLA coach of the year Bob Johnston. "We're a little ways away from that. - But it was a pretty good lacrosse game, all things being equal."
Quinton also tallied a hat trick for Burnaby on a last-second penalty shot.
"It was disappointing to come up short," said Quinton. "Everyone was excited about making the playoffs, but it's not much when you get beat in four games. But it's something to build on."
Dan Lewis stopped 33 shots in the Burnaby net. Steve Fryer got the win for Langley in his first playoff start, turning back 36 Laker shots on goal.
Colton Clark and Dane Stevens, with a secondperiod power play goal, also had four-point nights for Burnaby.
"Hopefully we learn from this and maybe we can win these tight games. - We're definitely on the way up," Quinton said.
"We can't be satisfied with just getting in the playoffs. Our goals are higher than this."
ALL-STAR TEAMS
Burnaby failed to land a player on WLA all-star teams.
The first team included three Coquitlam players, Bruce Murray, Dane Dobbie and goalie Nick Rose, defender Brett Mydske of Langley and Island forwards Scott Ranger and Corey Small.
