Shawn Slaght, All Lacrosse All The Time – A Division of The Edge of Philly Sports Network
The Burnaby Lakers held their home opener on Friday night, but the home crowd went home disappointed. Haiden Dickson’s goal with 2:36 left in the third period held up as the game-winner as the New Westminster Salmonbellies edged the Lakers 8-7.
It was a rebound for the Salmonbellies after dropping a 15-11 decision to the Nanaimo Timbermen the night before.
Zach Higgins had one of his better outings of the WLA season, stopping 54 of 61 shots for the win. Zak Boychuk got the nod in goal for the Lakers and stopped 37 of 45 shots in the loss.
Salmonbellies jump out to a quick lead
New Westminster did not get off to a good start in this game. Ryan Martel scored shorthanded for the Lakers at 1:06 to give Burnaby the lead.
The Salmonbellies would tie it up at 9:55 when Thomas Jeck got on the board. However, New Westminster would find themselves in penalty trouble late in the first period.
A Jakob Doucet checking-from-behind call and too many men call would put the Lakers on the two-man advantage and they’d convert with Laszlo Henning finishing at the back of the net at 12:37. Still down a man, Dickson would manage a shorthanded goal at 15:01 to give the Salmonbellies a 3-2 advantage.
Doucet rounded out the scoring with 1:48 left in the period. New Westminster held a 4-2 lead after the first period.
Lakers battle back to keep the game close
Burnaby would open the second period on a three-goal run with two goals from Toron Eccleston and one from Pearson Willis to give the Lakers the lead back 5-4.
Doucet would score the Salmonbellies’ second shorthanded goal of the game at 10:49 to tie it up 5-5. Jason Jones added another for New Westminster at 12:57 to hold a slim 6-5 lead heading into the second intermission.
Dickson goal spoils home opener
In another low-scoring period, Mark Yingling got the Lakers back on the board 1:10 into the third period and, once again, these two teams were tied up.
The Salmonbellies would then pull away with a two-goal run. Jordan McBride would put New Westminster up 7-6 at 2:21. Dickson scored his hat-trick goal with 2:36 left, which would prove to be the game-winner to spoil the Lakers’ home opener.
Brendan Szabo scored with 2:01 left in the third period for the Lakers, but the Burnaby squad could not find the equalizer.
The win puts the Salmonbellies back in the hunt. They sit in fourth place in the standings with a record of 2-3. Meanwhile, the Lakers fall to 1-3 for fifth place in the league.
Top scorers
New Westminster Salmonbellies
Jason Jones, 1g 4a
Haiden Dickson, 3g 1a
Jakob Doucet, 2g
Jordan McBride, 1g 1a
Jimmy McBride, 2a
Burnaby Lakers
Mark Yingling, 1g 2a
Ryan Martel, 1g 2a
Toron Eccleston, 2g 1a
Shawn Slaght has been a sports reporter across the Canadian prairies for over 10 years and has experience covering everything from junior hockey to World Cup skiing to all levels of lacrosse. He is the Saskatchewan correspondent for All Lacrosse All The Time.
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