The Maple Ridge Burrards appear to be hitting their stride.
The Burrards took a solid grip on second place in the Western Lacrosse Association, with a 13-4 lambasting of the Coquitlam Adanacs on Tuesday night at Planet Ice.
“I thought our guys played a complete game. It’s the first time all year that we’ve put a complete 60 minutes in,” said new coach Chris Gill. “They’ve had flashes of brilliance on the defence, and a couple on the offence, and then the faceoff team, but we never ever put it all together. Today we put it together.”
Ben McIntosh scored three of the team’s first four goals, pacing the Burrards to a 5-1 lead after the first period. He would finish with four goals and two assists.
Coquitlam compounded their problems when, down 6-2 and facing a Ridge power play, they tried to catch the almost unbeatable goaltender Frankie Scigliano with illegal equipment. They called for a measurement.
The rookie netminder left with the referee, but swiftly returned to the net, and a delay of game penalty assessed the Adanacs.
“If they’re not scoring I guess they’re going to try and change the momentum however they can, and it kind of backfired on them,” said Scigliano, who was never really worried. “I was pretty confident. I take care of my gear pretty well – I make sure everything’s legal, all the time.”
The result of the five-on-three was another Ridge goal, which teed up a total rout.
Scigliano continued to improve his outstanding rookie stats, saving 36 out of 40 shots. He padded his league lead in save percentage at .842 and goals against average at 6.64.
“Frankie played unbelievable. He saved us a lot of times early on,” said Gill.
Coquitlam had a shot at drafting the rookie, but let him drop to the Burrards. They must have been questioning that decision on Tuesday night. In the third period, a good curler could have scored on the Adanac net.
In addition to McIntosh, Riley Loewen had three goals and three assists, Jarrett Davis had a goal and five assists, making for three six-point players. They are both in the top 10 in league scoring. Pitt Meadows’ own Mike Mallory also had a goal and three assists.
Gill also gave props to ace faceoff man Zack Porter, who gave his team possession in 13 out of 19 faceoffs.
“The whole faceoff team was unbelievable.”
The win improves their record to a tidy 8-5-1, with just four games left in the season (see complete standings on page 37). They have allowed a league low 98 points.
But Gill’s message to them after the game was that they still have mistakes in their game that can be cleaned up.
“We’re playing very good lacrosse, but with the coaches’ expectations and the players expectations – we know we can play better, even though it was a lopsided score.”
The Adanacs and Burrards meet again, in Coquitlam on Saturday night.
That sets up a tough back-to-back for the Burrards, who host the third-place Burnaby Lakers on Sunday, 6:45 p.m. at Cam Neely Arena. That will be their last home game of the regular season schedule.