It's come down to all or nothing for the Burnaby Lakers senior A lacrosse team.
The Lakers fell 10-6 to the Langley Thunder in Game 3 of the Western Lacrosse Association bestof-seven semifinal playoff at the Langley Events Centre on Tuesday.
Game 4 was played Thursday in Burnaby after NOW deadlines.
"We're fighting for our lives," said Burnaby head coach Bob Johnston. "We're truly missing our two young guys, (Jackson) Decker and (Casey) Jackson. We're just a step slower at every turn."
Burnaby fell behind 3-1 after the opening 20 minutes and trailed 6-2 midway through the middle period after Carlton Schuss had brought the visitors to within a goal with his first of the series in the opening minute of the frame.
Langley built up a sixgoal advantage into the final stanza before Colton Clark potted a pair of goals 18 seconds apart at the 13minute mark of the period.
Dan Lewis stopped 38 Langley shots, one more than Thunder keeper Brodie MacDonald.
Shaun Dhaliwal, with three goals, and Scott Jones, with a pair of counters, currently lead the squad with nine playoff points apiece.
"We're still there. - We're still on top of the goalie, but the shots aren't dropping," Johnston added. "Last year, we struggled to get players out the back door. This year, it's the front door. We're a bit snake bitten there, too. But we need to play better all over the floor."
In the other semifinal series, the Coquitlam Adanacs took a two-gamesto-none lead following a 13-7 victory at home over the Victoria Shamrocks on Wednesday.
New Westminster castoff Mark Negrin sparked the Adanacs' win, potting two goals in a 5-3 firstperiod lead and two more in the final frame to earn the game's first star in the series.
Negrin, who was drafted by the senior Salmonbellies in the fourth round of this year's junior entry draft, was later released in June and subsequently signed by the A's.
In nine league games, the nifty lefthander tallied six goals and 14 points.
"(Negrin)'s a player. I saw him when he was younger. He came out and, holy cow, he really wants to play," said Coquitlam head coach Bob Salt.
Daniel McQuade, another New Westminster pickup taken 22nd overall with Coquitlam's fourth overall pick in the draft, also scored in Wednesday's win, tallying the eventual game-winner at 6: 47 of the middle frame.
"You know the one thing about the junior 'Bellie players is they don't drop the ball. I'm having a lot of fun with them," Salt added.
Game 3 of the series returns to Victoria today (Friday).
Game 4 between Coquitlam and Victoria is at the Coquitlam Sports Centre on Sunday. Game time is 7: 45 p.m.
