Next Best Defeat Ex-Best

By Brad Challoner

The Coquitlam Adanacs beat the Burnaby Lakers by a score of 8-5 at the Coquitlam Sports Complex last night and despite going into the game atop the BCJALL standings and being ranked the number one team in Canada by Lacrosse Talk Magazine, after beating the Lakers the A's can finally admit they deserve the recognition. The Adanacs were led by Jarret Davis who tallied five assists. Kelly Kilpatrick scored three goals with two coming on the power play. Jordan Weir also scored a hat trick with two on the power play which makes him the league's PPG leader with 15. Joel Weber made 34 saves on his way to the win.

The Lakers came out of the gate strong, scoring the first two goals in the first 4 minutes, and then holding a 3-1 lead for a time. But the Adanac's power play was clicking and it was 3-3 after one period.

The second period was much of the same with both teams trading goals. Alex Gajic, after a three point first period was in on two more Burnaby goals. And Coquitlam scored two more PPGs. Kelly Kilpatrick tied the game at 5-5 with 3 seconds to go in the period to set up what was going to be a photo finish and an entertaining third.

The third period saw a different Adanacs' team take the floor and take over the rest of game. Scott Defrancesco would strike first for the A's, giving them their first lead of the game at 6-5 and their first of three unanswered goals. Sean Robinson scored, followed by Jordan Weir 25 seconds later and that was enough to seal the deal. Coquitlam's defence, led by Matt Beers and Matt Wilson, followed Alex Gajic like a shadow and gave him less space than Oprah in phone booth. With Gajic out of the picture in the third period, the Lakers' offence couldn't generate anything, and with Joel Weber standing on his head in the last few minutes, Coquitlam was just too tough to beat.

Burnaby was led by Alex Gajic who despite being shut down in the third, was in all five Lakers goals. The leading scorer in the league improves to 42 goals and 45 assists in 16 games. Goaltender Matt Wray made 31 saves in the losing effort.

Last night was the third and final regular season meeting between the two clubs. Coquitlam wins a season series with Burnaby two games to one for the first time in anyone's memory. Last night marked something significant. Last night marked the passing of the torch between the ex-best team in the league, and the next best team in the league.

Coquitlam will try to remain the best team in Canada on Saturday when they take a trip to Victoria to take on the second place Shamrocks. Burnaby's next game is July 3rd in South Fraser.