The Campbell River Ravens cut a big deficit but ultimately fell short in their lacrosse season opener.
On Sunday at the Brind’Amour, the junior B team hosted the Westshore Bears to kick off their Pacific Northwest Junior Lacrosse campaign for 2019.
The Bears, who had several extra players, got on the board early, scoring a couple of minutes into the match, but Campbell River rallied to tie things up when Heydon Campbell got the Ravens on the board at the 16:38 mark.
The Ravens took a penalty shortly after though, and Westshore capitalized to take a lead. From there, the visitors added three more goals before the first period was out.
The Beards added to the lead with another powerplay marker about five minutes into the second and managed another on a two-on-one break.
Trailing 7-1, the Ravens could’ve given up, but they started to dominate play as the second period went on, all while managing to cut down on the trips to the penalty box.
With just over seven minutes left in the second, Dylan Christensen forced a steal for a breakaway and scored for the Ravens, although the Bears quickly added another.
The Ravens fired in two more goals before the period was out, courtesy of Campbell and Lucas Marriott-Spencer.
In the third, Campbell River’s Blake Doherty snatched his own rebound and shot it past the Westshore goalie to make it 8-5. Still early in the third, Mason Osterhout-Cote and Marriott-Spencer added goals to bring the Ravens within one, but that was as close as the home side got. Westshore score a few more goals before play expired to notch the 11-7 win.
The Ravens head to Westshore for the rematch on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. and return home to the Brind’Amour on Tuesday, May 7 at 8 p.m. to host the Nanaimo Timbermen.
