The hard-luck Nanaimo Timbermen suffered another last-minute loss.
The senior A lacrosse club fell 8-7 to the Maple Ridge Burrards on Saturday night at Frank Crane Arena. It was the third-straight loss for the T-men and pushes them to the brink of elimination from playoff contention.
The Timbermen played tough against one of the Western Lacrosse Association’s top teams. Nanaimo led by two goals early in the third period, but Maple Ridge came back to tie and then Dan Taylor scored the winning goal with 36 seconds left.
Kaleb Toth, coach of the Timbermen, said his players have “deserved better outcomes” in games this season.
“It’s unfortunate, but it’s part of lacrosse,” he said. “If there are lacrosse gods, they’re not on our side this year. But we’ve just got to keep battling through, keep working hard and try to stay positive.”
In Saturday’s game, Toth said both offences were sloppy to start, with strong defence and goaltending from both teams. The squads got better as the game wore on, making for an up-for-grabs ending. The T-men had chances, including some breakaways in the last few minutes that could have changed the outcome. The team had possession with 20 seconds left to try to tie the score, but passes went awry and time expired.
“You can’t pinpoint it on one thing,” Toth said. “The offence still needs to go to the middle and they need to move their feet when they’re moving the ball instead of swinging the ball and standing still.”
The Timbermen also had penalty trouble at key points in the game.
“It’s the mentally strong guys that can put that stuff aside and continue to play and have it not affect them and that’s what we need to continue to do,” the coach said. “We’ve got to keep working and hopefully just battle through those little mistakes.”
Nanaimo’s goals were scored by Jake Cullen, Ryan Lee, Chase McIntyre, Brody Eastwood, Kyle Hofer, Adam Bakular-Evans and Brandan Smith. Mike DeGirolamo made 35 saves in defeat.
GAME ON … The Timbermen and Burrards play a rematch Tuesday (July 19) on the mainland. Nanaimo’s next home game is Saturday (July 23), when they face the Coquitlam Adanacs at 7 p.m. at Frank Crane Arena.
sports@nanaimobulletin.com