The Maple Ridge Burrards' misery continues.

A 10-6 loss to the visiting Nanaimo Timbermen Sunday at Planet Ice drops the Burrards' record to 1-9-1.

With seven games still to go in its regular season schedule, Maple Ridge has already taken up what appears to be permanent residence in the Western Lacrosse Association cellar.

Burrards' head coach Daren Fridge said his team will probably have to "run the table" to have a shot at post-season play.

"We're in a desperate situation," Fridge said. "There's a division between ourselves and the rest of the league. We have to be perfect. To stay in the mix we need to achieve eight or nine victories."

July is roster deadline day and Fridge, who doubles as the Burrards' general manager, will be looking to make a few moves to improve the team.

To muddy the waters even further, the injury bug has sunk its teeth deeply into the Burrards.

"We've had a rash of injuries that is unexplainable," he said. "We have five, six, seven guys who we expected to be in our lineup this year, and haven't had the opportunity to do so."

The Burrards' made a valiant comeback during the third period of Sunday's game, but fell short.

Down 7-3, Maple Ridge got goals from Jarrett Davis, Riley Loewen, and Colton Porter to narrow its deficit to a goal, at 7-6.

That was as close as the Burrards' got. The Timbermen scored the final three goals of the night to win decisively.

"That part was positive," Fridge said, regarding his team's thirdperiod scoring surge. "After we battled to within one, they got an unfortunate goal that was deflating, and one right after that. After that it was an uninspired effort the rest of the way."

Nanaimo outscored Maple Ridge 4-2 in the first period and 3-1 during the middle frame.

Burrards' goal-scorers were Davis with two, Porter, Loewen, Brandon Bertoia, and Simon Giourmetakis.

WLA scoring leader Scott Ranger sparked Nanaimo's attack with two goals and four assists. Cayle Ratcliffe scored a hat trick while Ryan Keith also potted a pair for the T-Men.

Langley Thunder 16, Burrards 11 It was just after 10 p.m. on Wednesday and the vibe at opposite ends of the Langley Events Centre was markedly different.

On one side, you heard loud music and boisterous chatter emanating from the Langley Thunder dressing room.

Minutes earlier, the 2011 Western Lacrosse Association playoff champion Thunder had finished off the Maple Ridge Burrards by a 16-11 count.

"I thought we played really well," Thunder head coach Rod Jensen said. "We had a couple lapses, they got a couple shorthanded goals, but if I asked either goalie if they were happy with their game, they would say no."

Stroll through the hallway to the visitors' side, and you hear very little, except the low voices of the coaches, having a pow-wow outside their dressing room.

The Burrards were in a dour mood, after falling to 1-8-1.

"Good in parts, but not enough of a consistent effort," said a frustrated Fridge. "You're going against a potent, high-powered offence like that, where [the Thunder's Athan] Iannucci and [Lewis] Ratcliff were dictating play in the first, I felt we responded really well in the second but unfortunately- we're working through some issues, here. All of it is a bunch of excuses. It's just whining so I'd rather not go into great detail. Our goal-scorers have to do their part and we're definitely not aggressive enough on defence. And tonight our goaltenders didn't do their job."

The Thunder outscored the Burrards 6-3 in the first period and 5-3 in the final frame. The teams traded five goals each during the second period.

The score would have been even more lopsided if not for late goals from Maple Ridge's Loewen and Davis to round out the scoring.

Maple Ridge had its moments, and trailed by two, 10-8, late in the second period before Thunder captain Matt Leveque scored an empty netter with three seconds remaining. The opening half of the third period belonged to the Thunder, which scored five goals to the Burrards' one.

sports@langleyadvance.com

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