There were plenty of takeaways from the first game of the season for the Burnaby junior A Lakers on Saturday.
Unfortunately, two points weren’t part of the total.
The Lakers launched the 2019 B.C. Junior A Lacrosse League season in Ladner, falling 9-8 in a tightly played tilt between two rebuilding programs.
The Delta Islanders emerged victorious, rallying from a four-goal deficit and shutting down Burnaby’s shooters for the final 24 minutes of the contest.
After surrendering the game’s first two goals in a span of 1:01, Burnaby got back on track and pulled it to 2-1 on Butch LaRoue’s first as a Laker.
Down 3-1, the visitors pulled even on tallies by Thomas Vela and Marcus Klarich, the latter on a powerplay, before Delta claimed a 4-3 lead before the period expired.
In the second frame, the Lakers ran the table for five straight goals to go up 8-4, with Nicholas Dos Santos, Liam MacIntosh, Liam Smith, Vela with his second and first overall draft pick Sam LaRoue collecting the markers.
But before the period ended, Delta did it’s own streak with three tallies, including a shorthanded goal by Max Stalling with 1:26 left in the frame, to cut the deficit to one.
In the third period, the home team scored twice, with Ryan Flack’s, with 12:56 to play, standing up as the game winner.
Delta outshot Burnaby 59-42, with Diesel De Guzman turning aside 50 shots.
The Lakers make their home debut tonight (Monday, 8 p.m.) when they host the 2-0 Langley Thunder at the Bill Copeland Arena.
