The home opener could scarcely have gone any better. The task now for the Timbermen is to build on it.
Nanaimo’s senior A team continues its Western Lacrosse Association season this Friday (June 2) with a road game against the Burnaby Lakers.
The T-men will bring a bundle of energy over on the ferry, buoyed by their 12-5 home victory this past Sunday against the Langley Thunder.
“To get that win early and to have that little bit of momentum going into the next game is very key,” said Pete Dubenski, Timbermen goaltender.
The Lakers are a very strong team, he said, so the Timbermen will need to “just keep pushing, keep battling … They have a lot of good players and we just need to go out there and execute what we need to do, be physical and we should come out with another ‘W.’”
Kaleb Toth, Timbermen coach, said Sunday’s home-floor win provided his team with a lot of confidence.
“Now we’ve got to go into Burnaby on Friday with the same amount of confidence and the same amount of work ethic and hopefully we can get the same results,” he said.
Nanaimo has one win and one loss this season, so it’s experienced the different factors that lead to winning and losing games in the WLA. Toth said he noticed in the first game against the New Westminster Salmonbellies that his team didn’t respond well when it got scored on. That changed a few nights later, and the T-men responded the right way to the ebbs and flows.
“It doesn’t matter if you make a mistake,” the coach said. “It’s what you do the next shift that shows who you are.”
GAME ON … Nanaimo’s next home game is June 10, when the Salmonbellies visit Frank Crane Arena for a 6 p.m. faceoff.
sports@nanaimobulletin.com