The seasons have officially changed in Nanaimo sports.
The first big lacrosse game of the spring took place Wednesday at the Nanaimo Ice Centre, with the junior B Timbermen dropping their home opener 6-2 to the Westshore Bears.
“I didn’t think we played a very good game, to be honest with you,” said Ken Morrison, coach of the junior B squad. “I think we’ve got to do a lot of work.”
Josh Cronan, an alternate captain on the Timbermen, said his team definitely worked hard in the loss.
“We played till we couldn’t run anymore,” he said. “Some unfortunate bounces went the other way.
“We were solid on defence. Our offence was trying to put the ball in the net but they have a pretty good goalie so we suffered there.”
The contest started out pretty close, but the defending-champion Bears got their offence working in the second period to extend their margin to 4-0 before Tanner High scored the first goal of Nanaimo’s season.
Cody Dimond would go on to add a third-period marker for the Timbermen and Sten Lundgren went the distance in goal, making 31 stops.
The lack of offence wasn’t a great concern for the coaching staff since there were a couple of guys missing from the attack. The offence would have been better, Morrison said, if the players had done a better job executing the game plan up front.
“We weren’t cutting to the middle…” he said. “That’s part of the game. You’ve got to go through the middle. Guys get open, it turns the defence, the goalie moves. We ended up just shooting from outside.”
The team can also give itself more scoring opportunities if it can start tracking down a few more loose balls.
“That’s what really killed us in the game, I feel,” Cronan said. “We took a shot in the offensive end and it bounces out and they get a fast break. We’re going to have to work on that.”
GAME ON … Next action for the junior B Timbermen is Monday (May 2) on the road against the Victoria-Esquimalt Eagles. The next home game is May 11 versus Saanich, a 7:30 p.m. start at the NIC … For another photo from this game, please pick up Saturday's print issue of the News Bulletin.
sports@nanaimobulletin.com