The Delta Islanders provided a promising glimpse of their present and future in a resounding season-opening win.
With a number of intermediate age players in their line-up, the Islanders opened the 2013 B.C. Junior "A" Lacrosse League campaign on Saturday night by thumping the Burnaby Lakers 15-4 at the Ladner Leisure Centre. The Islanders raced out to a 6-1 lead after 20 minutes and took a 11-3 advantage into the third period.
Cody Nass paced the attack with five goals and one assist. After leading the B.C. Intermediate "A" Lacrosse League in scoring last season with the Richmond Roadrunners, Nass skipped his final year of eligability to get a jump on his junior career.
Delta Intermediate "A" affiliates Evan Messenger and Jon Phillips looked right at home in the junior line-up, combining for seven points.
Another local intermediate - goaltender Matt Keith - turned aside 23 shots to get the win. He is expected to get plenty of more work as regular stopper Will Schwan remains on the injured list.
"Keith is solid. He stops the outside shots and takes away the inside stuff. That's exactly what I want out of our goalies." said Islanders coach Shaun Springett.
The Islanders defeated Burnaby 20-10 a week earlier in pre-season action despite using the tilt to finalize their roster.
"The last time we played these guys we had a pretty assorted roster with a lot of intermediate players line up and we played three goaltenders," added Springett. "Tonight I wanted us to find ourselves and get in a groove."
Nass managed 25 points in 10 games as a call-up last season. He added 11 more points in seven playoff games. That experience should go a long way as he will be counted on to help fill the offensive void of high-scoring graduates Logan Schuss and Mike Mallory.
"I knew we had a strong game against Burnaby in the exhibition, and we wanted to come out hard tonight and get the lead right away, and prove to the league that we are a good team this year," said Nass.
Second-year standouts Mike Henry (2-4), Eli McLaughlin (2-3) and Tyler Nett (2-2) had productive nights. Brandon Moroz also scored twice.
The Islanders should get a much sterner test Saturday when they head to Nanaimo to take on the Timbermen.
The Island squad opened its season with a 12-9 road loss to defending champion Coquitlam Adanacs on Saturday despite a 39-save performance from Pete Dubenski. The second-year stopper had a leading role in the Islanders playoff run last season after being acquired in a trade. The agreement included his playing rights reverting back to Nanaimo for 2013.
- with files from Merrick Parnell
