How to stop Victoria's top-four forwards will be key to whether, or not, the Burnaby Lakers can move on in the Western Lacrosse Association playoffs.
The senior A Lakers were schooled by the big four at Bear Mountain Arena last night following a 12-8 loss to the Shamrocks in Game 1 of the best-of-seven semifinal series.
Victoria regular season goal-scoring leader Corey Small, with two late goals in the opening period, helped Victoria out to a 5-2 first-period lead.
Team scoring leader Cory Conway and Scott Ranger, who came to Victoria in a pre-season trade from Nanaimo, both scored in the second period to put the home team up 9-4 after 40 minutes.
Rhys Duch led all Shamrock scorers with three goals and three assists in the playoff win.
In all, the four Victoria players compiled 10 goals and 21 total points between them in the Game 1 win.
In contrast, Burnaby's top-performing forwards during the regular season garnered just a single tally from Casey Jackson on an early second-period power play.
Burnaby scoring leader Dane Stevens, and rightside shooters Scott Jones and Colton Clark were all held without a goal on just 10 total shots on goal.
Leading the way for the Lakers were rookie righthander Robert Church, who had three goals and two assists, and Jackson Decker, with a pair of counters.
"They definitely produced last night," said Burnaby head coach Rory McDade of Victoria's top goalscorers. "It's not easy (stopping them) that's for sure.
"The good thing is that we have a week off in which to break down the goals." Another area of concern for Burnaby is creating more quality shots on goal and limiting turnovers.
The second period last night was one of the team's poorest efforts this season, with just six shots on goal in the entire period, McDade added.
The Lakers played well in spurts, particularly in the third period, but quality possession will be a factor going forward, said McDade.
Burna by managed just 34 shots on
Victoria keeper Matt Vinc, who had a modest .765 save percentage in the playoff opener.
In fact, the three-time National Lacrosse League goalie of the year has appeared less that extraordinary, sporting a stop percentage of just .789 in eight WLA games this season.
"We have to find a way to get more ball possession," McDade said, adding Victoria enjoyed approximately 70 per cent of the faceoffs as well. "It's a number we have to be better at offensively."
The series will take the B.C. Day long weekend off and pick up again with Game 2 on Wednesday, Aug. 7 at the Bill Copeland Sports Centre. Game time is 7:45 p.m.
