It wasn’t a win.
But a tie against the team chasing them for the final playoff spot is to the advantage of the Surrey Rebels.
Playing with a short bench on the road Saturday against the Burnaby Lakers, the Rebels erased a three-goal deficit and salvaged a 5-5 draw.
With each team losing once since Saturday’s West Coast Junior Lacrosse League showdown, the Rebels have a 3-6-1 (won-lost-tied) record, and a two point lead over Burnaby in the race for eighth place. Surrey also has a game in hand.
The Rebels had only 11 runners available for the game, with six of their top seven scorers among the missing, and Burnaby took advantage. The Lakers had a 22-9 edge in shots on goal in the first period, but James Main tallied twice for Surrey and netminder Jeff Geyer made 20 saves to keep the score deadlocked at 2-2.
Burnaby tallied three times in 65 seconds in the second period, and took a 5-2 lead into the final frame.
Main started a third period rally with a goal three minutes into the session. Brandon St. Pierre cut the lead to one just 27 seconds later. Then Tyler Voisy netted the tying goal with seven minutes to play. Voisy and Brad Olson each collected a pair of assists.
Burnaby outshot Surrey 53-41.