K-W Braves player Devyn Oprana (8) celebrates with his teammates after a goal versus Burlington on Thursday night.

Braves come undone late, fall to Burlington at home

The K-W Braves have struggled to gain any traction this season, currently sitting in second last place in the Ontario Junior A Lacrosse League. On Thursday night, the Braves were hosting the second-place Burlington Chiefs with a chance to make a statement.

Burlington looked the part early on, opening the scoring under a minute into the game and taking a 4-0 lead before K-W was able to push back. Trent DiCiccio got the Braves on the board 17 seconds after Burlington's fourth goal to give the home side life. Less than a minute later, Andrew Borgatti cut the lead in half and the Braves trailed 4-2 heading into the second period.

K-W rode their momentum early in the second, as Reed Kurtz, Nate Braniff and Borgatti scored within seven minutes of each other for the Braves, giving them the lead, 5-4. The second half of the period belonged to Burlington, though, scoring three straight goals to steal back the advantage. Braves goaltender Cole Martin was excellent in the frame, helping K-W kill off four of five penalties.

In the third, the Braves were able to bring their deficit to one, trailing 8-7 with just under 12 minutes to play, and had an opportunity to pull off the stunning upset. Unfortunately for K-W, the Chiefs offense proved to be too strong and scored three times, including two goals from Hunter Lemieux, putting the Braves away for good. Devyn Oprana, who starred for the GOJHL's Cambridge Redhawks this winter, scored late for K-W but the damage was done. Burlington held on for the road victory, 11-8.

The Braves fall to 3-11 on the season and remain outside the OJALL playoff picture. K-W will try to climb the standings tonight in Toronto when they meet the Beaches at 8 pm.