The Maple Ridge Burrards split a weekend trip to Vancouver Island, losing to the Victoria Shamrocks 7-4 on Friday night, then defeating the Nanaimo Timbermen 10-8 Sunday.
In front of a crowd of more than 2,100 Western Lacrosse Association fans in Victoria, the Shamrocks enjoyed a huge edge in power plays, going 2-8 with the man advantage.
The Burrard power play had only two man advantage opportunities, and scored on both.
Andrew Murphy led the Burrards with two goals and two assists, while Spencer Evans and Riley Loewen also scored.
The Burrards were outshot 52-33.
Frankie Scigliano made his debut in the net. He was pelted with shots, stopping 45 of 52, and was named the game’s second star, after first star Matt Findell – his counterpart in the Victoria net.
Findell said a pressure defence, with no traffic and no screens, made his life easy.
The Shamrocks are the class of the WLA so far this season, with four wins and a tie in five outings, and are averaging better than 10 goals per game.
In the Sunday game, the Burrards forced turnovers and took advantage of Nanaimo mistakes.
Evans scored four goals, and was named the game’s first star, and Andrew Murphy had three goals and an assist. Aaron Davis, with two, and Garrett McIntosh were the other scorers.
The Ridge power play was again efficient, going 2-4, while Nanaimo couldn’t score in six attempts.
Scigliano was again in net, and made 37 saves on 45 shots.
With the weekend split, the Burrards are 3-3 on the season.
They are in New Westminster on Thursday, looking to even the season series with a Salmonbellies team that beat the 11-8 on June 1.
Their next home game will against Burnaby on Sunday, at 6:45 p.m. at Planet Ice.
