Win sees Lakers edge closer to Shamrocks

The battle for first place in the Western Lacrosse Association just got really interesting.

The Burnaby Lakers got a hat trick from Eli McLaughlin to beat the Victoria Shamrocks 7-4 on Friday night at Bill Copeland Arena. The victory moves the Lakers (9-5-1) to within two points of the second-place Shamrocks (10-5-1) and within three points of the front-running Maple Ridge Burrards (11-5). Burnaby has a game in hand on both the ’Rocks and Burrards.

On Friday, the Lakers scored just 2:31 into the game and never looked back, making it 3-0 before Chris Wardle got the first of his two goals midway through the first to get the Shamrocks on the board.

Victoria dominated the play in the third period, pouring 21 of their 57 shots on Lakers goaltender Eric Penney, but Penney slammed the door. Rhys Duch and Corey Small had the other Shamrocks goals, while Dane Stevens scored a pair for the Lakers, who also got singles from Matt Beers and Jackson Decker.

Cody Hagedorn made 30 saves in the Victoria goal.

The Shamrocks conclude the regular season next weekend with a Friday night tilt in New Westminster against the Salmonbellies, before returning home Saturday to play the Lakers again at The Q Centre. JUNIOR ’ROCKS: The Victoria Junior Shamrocks have their season on the line today in Coquitlam. The Jr. ’Rocks trail their best-offive B.C. Junior A Lacrosse League semifinal series 2-0 to the Adanacs. Today’s game goes at 2 p.m. in Coquitlam. If Victoria wins, Game 4 will be at The Q Centre on Sunday at 2 p.m. A fifth-anddeciding game would be played on Monday at 5 p.m. in Coquitlam. The winner of the series advances to play the New Westminster Jr. Salmonbellies in the league final. The Jr. Salmonbellies swept their semifinal series with the Port Coquitlam Saints.