The New Westminster Salmonbellies picked up an 18-11 win over the Burnaby Lakers in a high-scoring affair on Friday night at the Bill Copeland Arena.
Burnaby’s defense had a hard time corraling Haiden Dickson as he scored a sock trick. Not to be outdone, the Lakers’ Jacob Dunbar ended the night with five goals and one assist.
Zach Higgins made his second straight start of the Salmonbellies in goal He stopped 38 of 49 shots in the win. On the other side of the floor, Keegan Melenychuk faced a ton of rubber. He saw 60 shots and made 42 saves.
The win put New Westminster, at 8-2, one game back of the WLA-leading Langley Thunder. Burnaby sits in sixth place at 2-8 and has now lost two straight.
Salmonbellies take commanding first-period lead
New Westminster got on the board first. Colton Clark found the back of the net 1:18 in the game.
Ty Ewen tied it up 2:36 into the first period followed by Jacob Dunbar’s power-play goal 54 seconds later to give Burnaby an early lead.
However, the wheels fell off for the Lakers after that. New Westminster went on a six-goal run in a matter of 8:04. Keegan Bal and Dickson each had three goals in the run as the ‘Bellies went ahead 7-2.
Toron Eccleston converted on a pass from Erik Maas on the power play for the Lakers’ third goal.
Clark scored with 1:52 left in the first period to start a four-goal run between the first and second. Brandon Goodwin scored on transition shorthanded with 14 seconds left to make it 9-3 for the Salmonbellies at the first break.
Lakers try to make up the deficit
Back on the power play in the second period, Clark scored his hat trick goal 2:27 into the frame. Thirty seconds later, Noah Armitage scored as part of an eight-point night for him.
Dunbar put the Lakers back on the board at 4:03. It only took 22 seconds for Dickson to reply. Nearly 10 minutes would pass before Ryan Martel scored for New Westminster to give them a 13-4 lead.
Burnaby tried to narrow the gap with a four-goal run in a span of 2:14. Trevayne Hunter started the run with 3:45 left in the period followed by two goals from Dunbar and a marker from Eccleston.
Clark rounded out the scoring with a buzzer-beater with an extra attacker on the floor with New Westminster holding a 14-8 advantage heading into the third period.
High-scoring affair leads to Salmonbellies’ victory
Thirty-two seconds into the third period Burnaby would take a too many men penalty. Bal capitalized on the power play 22 seconds into the man advantage.
Ewen replied for the Lakers 2:24 into the third period to get Burnaby back within four goals.
Jason Jones and Dickson would add markers midway through the third period as New Westminster opened up a 17-9 lead.
Dunbar potted his fifth goal with 4:48 on the clock, but Dickson scored his sock trick goal with 2:59 left.
Eccleston ended the high-scoring affair with 24 seconds left to end the game 18-11.
Three Stars
- Haiden Dickson, New Westminster Salmonbellies
- Keegan Bal, New Westminster Salmonbellies
- Jacob Dubar, Burnaby Lakers
Top Scorers
New Westminster Salmonbellies
Noah Armitage, 1g 8a
Colton Clark, 4g 4a
Haiden Dickson, 6g
Keegan Bal, 4g 1a
Jason Jones, 1g 4a
Burnaby Lakers
Toron Eccleston, 3g 4a
Jacob Dunbar, 5g 1a
Ty Ewen, 2g 1a
Trevayne Hunter, 1g 2a
Erik Maas, 3a
Don’t forget to check us out every Sunday night at 9 pm (ET) on eopsports.com
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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