They caught the Langley Thunder from behind Friday but they couldn't catch the Victoria Jr. Shamrocks on Sunday.
PoCo Saints split a pair of games at PoCo Rec Centre on the opening weekend of the new B.C. Junior 'A' lacrosse league season, including starting with a thrilling 9-7 comeback victory over the Thunder.
Down 5-1 after the first period, the Saints stormed back to out-score Langley 8-2 the rest of the way -- 6-2 in the final frame alone -- on way to the gritty two-goal win.
Tyler Klarner keyed the Saints' late surge by whipping in three straight goals in a three-minute span midway through the third, with Garrett Chan sandwiching Klarner's markers with a pair of his own. Cody L'Arrivee sealed the Saints' win with a tally with 25 seconds left.
Nash Harrison racked up the Saints' other three goals, with one in the first period and two in the second. He also supplied three assists in the third in a game where shots on goal were dead even at 44 apiece, with Carson Michaud scooping the win in net via a solid 37-save performance.
Sunday was a different script, as the Saints trailed the Jr. Shamrocks 3-2 and 7-5 at the intermissions as Victoria hung on for a 10-7 triumph.
Harrison and Chan led the Saints with two goals and two assists apiece. Evan Wortley, Brock Whiteley and Adam Schulstad also struck net for PoCo, who out-shot the visitors by a 47-42 margin.
Meanwhile, the four-time defending league-champion Coquitlam Jr. Adanacs kicked off their campaign with a convincing 11-4 romp over the Jr. Timbermen in Nanaimo.
The Jr. A's led 3-1 and 6-2 at the breaks and sailed to the easy win, keyed by Cole Shafer's four-goal effort. Reid Reinholdt bagged pair of goals for the winners, who got singles from Michael Messenger, Taylor Stewart, Matthew Dinsdale, Vincent Ricci and Tyler Garrison. Dinsdale also supplied four assists as the Jr. A's peppered 52 shots at the Nanaimo cage while surrendering just 29.
Next, the Jr. A's host the Delta Islanders at 7:30 p.m. tonight (Wednesday) at Poirier Sports Complex, 7:30 p.m. before squaring off the Jr. Shamrocks on Saturday in Victoria. The Saints visit Nanaimo on Sunday.
