Lakers reach their Goals

Burnaby reaches its goals

 

The Burnaby Lakers put together the game they were striving for on a very special night.

On the very day that Laker supporter John Paterson passed away, Burnaby paid tribute to its long-time fan with an exciting 14-2 victory over the Langley Thunder at the Bill Copeland Sports Centre on Tuesday.

The senior A Lakers put together arguably their most complete Western Lacrosse Association game to date, outplaying the last-place Langley club in every aspect of the game, while out shooting the Thunder 52-44.

Zac Boychuk gave another sterling performance in the Burnaby cage, making 42 saves and recording a scintillating 0.955 save percentage to surely put the first-year Laker keeper into contention for WLA player of the week.

The game's second star now leads all WLA league goalies in both goals against and save percentage.

But it was the production up front that had the Copeland faithful on the edge of their seats.

First star Robert Church led the onslaught with an eight-point night, including a season-high five goals, one of two shorthanded tallies by the boys in Green and White.

Club scoring leader Scott Jones also added to the goal total, notching his hat trick midway through the final frame in an unanswered six-goal third period.

Burnaby's transition game was also on the march. Jackson Decker opened the scoring in the first period with his first of two markers. Pete McFetridge, in his first game back off injury, also counted a pair on the breakout.

“(The goals were) big for us,” said McFetridge, who garnered the third star nod. It's nice to see us come out a bit and break out of that shell.”

But keeping control of the game through the entire 60 minutes was perhaps more important, said McFetridge.

“It's a big momentum game for us down the road,” he said.

Burnaby led 3-0 after one period, before upping the ante in the next two stanzas.

The Lakers potted five more counters in the middle period and then blanked Langley 6-0 in the remaining 20 minutes.

The Lakers could possibly leap frog the New Westminster Salmonbellies into fourth place with a win over the Fishmen at Queen's Park Arena this Thursday. Game time is 7:45 p.m.

Burnaby's next home game is Tuesday, July 5 against the Nanaimo Timbermen. Note the earlier time of 7 p.m.