They get full marks for effort, but would love to add a few more points to their total.
The Burnaby Lakers didn’t get the win but they did put up a good fight in Monday’s 7-2 loss to the undefeated Coquitlam Adanacs.
The Adanacs, who are the reigning B.C. Junior A Lacrosse League and Minto Cup champions, surrendered the first two goals of the game, but didn’t flinch down the stretch.
While Dylan Kaminski and Butch LaRoue put Burnaby ahead early in the first period – with Kaminski’s first of the season, coming just 47 seconds into his first game of the season – they were silenced the rest of the night.
Meanwhile, Coquitlam took control with seven unanswered goals, beginning with Dennon Armstrong’s pair and Thomas Semple’s powerplay marker at 8:21 of the frame.
They ran the table the rest of the way to stake out a 4-0 start to the 2019 season.
The Lakers did have their chances, however, as Adanacs netminder Cam McLeod kicked out 32 shots and backstopped his team’s fourth win of the season.
At the other end, Matteo Tack turned aside 38 shots.
It dropped Burnaby’s record to 1-4 on the early season.
It was the team’s second straight loss, coming on the heels of a 13-6 setback to Port Coquitlam last week.
In that contest, the Lakers trailed the whole night except for a brief respite in the first period, when Joseph Callard tied the game 1-1. After that, it was all PoCo.
Although Burnaby clawed to within a goal at 4-3, the Saints netted nine of the next 11 goals to put a fork in it.
Marcus Klarich counted two goals and three assists, giving him a team-leading seven tallies, while Thomas Vela chipped in a pair of markers. Rookie Sam LaRoue rounded out the offence.
For PoCo, junior B call-up Evan Wray scored twice and set up five others to lead the Saints.
The team’s lone victory came nearly two weeks ago, when they bumped off archrival New Westminster 6-5 in a tightly played battle.
In a game where the goalies were on the hotseat nearly all night, it was a late rally and a strong extra-man attack that proved to be the difference.
Kieran McKay recorded a pair of powerplay markers, in a span of 1:41, to lift the Lakers to the first victory of the season.
The third-year B.C. junior veteran netted the tying goal with 6:43 remaining, and delivered the winner with 5:02 on the clock, on a set-up from Klarich.
It was McKay’s third goal of the game.
Prior to that, Erik Maas had restored the lead for New West with his second of the night with 12:32 to play.
Tack kicked out 36 shots to collect the win, while New West’s netminder Brayden Bell faced 37 shots.
The two teams traded goals most of the game, although after Klarich opened the scoring midway through the first period with a powerplay tally, the ‘Bellies replied by taking a 3-1 advantage on efforts from Will Malcom and Cam Garlin, with two.
New West’s Maas and Garlin finished with four-point nights, while Burnaby also got goals from Sam LaRoue and Kurtis Shum. Liam Birch registered a pair of assists.
The Lakers continue their hunt for a second win. They pay a visit to the second-place Langley Thunder tonight (Thursday), before heading to Victoria for a Saturday match.
Burnaby hosts undefeated Nanaimo on Sunday, 4 p.m. at Bill Copeland.
