June 13, 2007 -- Rod Jensen is 44 years old. His Coquitlam Adanacs are making him feel 84.

The Adanacs head coach has gone through the Western Lacrosse Association equivalent of a triple bypass –– three straight victories, all by one goal. Jensen’s latest ticker test came Saturday when the Adanacs won an 11-10 squeaker over the tenacious Nanaimo Timbermen on a Peter Veltman tally with 20 seconds left at Coquitlam Sports Centre.

While the result boosted the Adanacs to 3-2 and above .500 for the first time this season, Jensen is still waiting for his talented player cast to start performing well enough where he doesn’t have to ponder getting a heart defibulator installed next to him on the team’s bench.

“I don’t think we’ve played well in all facets... our goaltending’s been average,” Jensen groused Tuesday, with a date tonight (Wednesday) versus the Shamrocks in Victoria looming rather large early in the season. “There’s no excuse not to go in there and win. It’s a huge game for us. If we can get to 4-2 and come back home [Saturday against Nanaimo], it could be a big confidence builder for us.”

The Shamrocks, too, have been under-achieving and sit behind the fourth-place Adanacs with a 2-3 record. Part of that can be attributed to the loss of star goalie Anthony Cosmo, while moving to .500 against the A’s will be tough as Victoria is expected to be missing marquee marksman Dan Dawson for tomorrow’s tilt.

Other than beating the 4-2 Timbermen, the Adanacs’ two other victories were back-to-back one-goal wins over the 1-7 Langley Thunder. The A’s two losses came at the hands of the 4-2 Burnaby Lakers and the 2-5 Maple Ridge Burrards.

“Teams at the bottom [of the standings] have definitely improved,” Jensen conceded. “[The Timbermen] are playing with confidence. I like to focus on just our team but I have to admit other teams have improved.”

Adanacs general manager agreed the Timbermen are definitely the surprise squad in the WLA thus far.

“I think they’ve got a pretty good team,” Wingrove said. “You certainly wouldn’t want to under-estimate them.”

On Saturday, the Adanacs built a seemingly cozy 9-6 lead going into the third period, only to watch the Timbermen fired in four straight goals in an eight-minute span to go up 10-9.

Curt Malawsky knotted the count 10-10 on his third goal of the game with 7:30 remaining, setting the stage for Veltman’s late heroics. Malawsky and Veltman led the A’s offensively with three goals and two assists apiece.

Other A’s goal-getters were Gary Bining, Jason Wulder, Devan Wray, Ray Guze and newly acquired Rich Catton. Coquitlam product Stephen McKinlay, the A’s first-round draft pick last winter, played his first game this WLA season after returning from the U.S. college ranks and supplied two assists.

RAG LINE: The A’s will be missing high-scoring Andy Secore tomorrow after he left Saturday’s game early with a lower body injury. However, Colin Doyle, who missed Saturday’s contest, is expected to return to the A’s line-up