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Team gets look at fresh new additions

Maple Ridge beats Coquitlam 8-7 in front of packed Vancouver crowd
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Lacrosse fans from across the Lower Mainland packed the Kitsilano Arena in Vancouver on Friday night, when they were treated to some Western Lacrosse Association pre-season action between the Maple Ridge Burrards and Coquitlam Adanacs.

The Burrards squeaked out the win, 8-7 over the Adanacs.

It was the first game of the season for the Burrards, and it corresponded with a team alumni.

General manager Rey Comeault said there wasn’t a seat available with so many fans at the game, many of them young Vancouver Burrards minor lacrosse players.

“I was talking to one of the organizers and he said of the 210 minor players registered to play lacrosse in Vancouver this year, he swears 180 of them showed up,” Comeault said. “The place was full. It’s not a real big arena. It was excellent.”

Comeault said the actual game was “a bit of a track meet,” but was happy with the way the Burrards played despite the team taking too many penalties.

Management was able to take a good, close look at many of the bubble players trying to make the roster.

“We have a lot of guys competing for jobs on our team and we didn’t play all of our top guys,” he said. “We’ve had definitely the best pre-season camp in the five years I’ve been around the Burrards.”

He said many of those players showed well, including recently-acquired Erik Klein and Johnny Kraakman, who had three goals on the night.

The team has also brought in a goalie, Jordan Kancsal, from Alberta’s Okotoks Raiders, to compete for a back-up job behind starter Frank Scigliano.

“I think we had a couple of guys who made the team based on that performance,” he said. “Lots of energy and two guys who aren’t afraid of mucking it up in terms of creating space on our offence, which is what we need.”

Maple Ridge begins the season on the road against Coquitlam on Saturday, May 27 at the Coquitlam Sports Centre.