The Orangeville Junior B Northmen coach acknowledges that his team opened the season with games against tough opponents. And he admits that not having last year's leading scorer Andrew Stoner and Clark DeGeer (both are away attending school in the U.S.) in the lineup contributes to the team's scoring woes. But he believes his club is better than what they showed in a pair of losses to open the Ontario Lacrosse Association season.

"Going into the season you expect to win every game," Burman said. "So 0-2 is definitely not the start we wanted. But it lets us know where we're at right now, and what improvement is needed."

The latest Northmen loss came in their home opener on Monday against the defending Founders Cup champion Six Nations Rebels. Orangeville was in the game for two periods, trailing 6-5 after 40 minutes. The Northmen ran out of gas in the third, eventually losing 11-6. Orangeville goals were scored by Graham Bryan, Kyle Kallay, Aaron McNutt, Troy Ross, Adam Hawkins and Bill Hostrawser. It was their second straight loss after dropping the season opener 5-4 in Elora.

Northmen general manager Mike Falkiner believes that working harder will be the key to success.

"When we played in Elora, I don't think we played our best game," Falkiner said. "That's not the way we play; we were totally outworked. We have a lot of young guys who aren't used to actual Junior B games. When we played Six Nations, they're just a really good team. We picked up our game tenfold. The thing that worries us is getting beat to loose balls two to one. We don't play that way."

The Northmen, sponsored by MacMaster Pontiac, play in Hamilton on Sunday, before returning home Monday for a game against Spartan. Game time is 8 p.m. at the Tony Rose Memorial Sports Centre.