Jr. Rocks Get Weekend Split

May 11, 2015

The Jr. Shamrocks had a rare home doubleheader over the weekend. They came away with a split, leaving them with a record of 3-2 in second place in league standings.

In Saturday’s contest it was the Langley Thunder taking it on the chin as the Shamrocks came away with a 15-7 victory, largely doing the damage with some great speed and outstanding goaltending by starter Charles Claxton. Langley’s starter, Jake Sundar lasted just 6:48 before being replaced by Zach Wickett. At that point in the contest it was the Shamrocks holding a 4-0 lead, which held up to the end of the period.

Nate Wade cashed in first, picking up a pass as he went to the net to open the scoring at 3:40. At 4:38, Ryan Lewis picked up the first of what would be 4 on the night, diving across in front to make it 2-0 Shamrocks. Max Fredrickson added another just 28 seconds later and Danny Smith put an end to Sundar’s night at 6:48 with an unassisted marker as he got on a run down the floor.

Period 2 saw the Rocks add 4 more before Langley finally hit the scoreboard. At 1:02, Brock Thompson-Marshall fired from the dotted line, followed by an unassisted goal from Adam Jay at 2:23, after he forced and picked up the loose ball to run the floor. Thompson-Marshall added his second of the contest at 4:12 and Lewis added his second, again going on a run at 6:43. Langley finally broke Claxton’s shutout run at 10:41 when Connar Abrams tallied. Rookie Zac Christianson got that one back at 12:59 when he intercepted and went coast to coast. The visitors got a pair with Dylan Lacroix and Thomas Moffat, finding the back of the net at 14:40 and 16:30 respectively, the latter coming with the man advantage. The Shamrocks managed a power play goal of their own at 17:35, Christianson getting his second off a long outlet pass. That made it 10-3 for the boys in green after 40 minutes.

In the final frame the Shamrocks started off with a pair, Lewis getting his hat trick market at 1:57 from the dotted line and Sam Tschritter making good at 4:52. The teams then traded goals to the end of the period as Danny Smith, Tyson Fair, and Lewis with his fourth rounded out the Shamrocks scoring.

Offensively the Shamrocks leader was Ryan Lewis with 4 goals and 1 assist. Brock Thompson Marshall, Zac Christianson and Danny Smith each had a pair of goals while singles came from Tyson Fair, Max Fredrickson, Sam Tschritter, Nate Wade and Adam Jay.

In Sunday’s contest, the Shamrocks hosted the league-leading Delta Islanders and suffered a heartbreaking 13-12 overtime loss. The Rocks had an 8-4 lead after 40 minutes but things got away from them in the final frame despite the heroics of Charles Claxton between the pipes.

Claxton’s counterpart at the other end of the floor was Ryland Hood and he had a shakey start as the Shamrocks peppered him early, taking a 3-0 lead by the 3:10 mark. Matt Hamilton, in his first game since returning from school, started things off at 2:01 from right in front. Nick Preston, the other recent returnee made it 2-0 at 2:52, finishing off some good ball control and Tyson Fair scored 18 seconds later from close in. The visitors got one back at 5:27 but Nate Wade replied 27 seconds later to restore the 3 goal lead, going over top of Hood. Delta managed a couple more before the period ended and that gave the Shamrocks the 4-3 lead going into period 2. Shots on goal were 25-13 for the visitors.

Again in the second period, it was the Shamrocks getting the quick start, Brock Thompson-Marshall tallying just 21 seconds in, cutting to the net. Intermediate call-up made it 6-3 when he gathered in an outlet pass from Claxton and found twine at 1:29. Hamilton picked up his second of the contest at the 7-minute mark with the teams playing 4-on-4 to open up a 4-goal lead. A power play goal by Delta’s Cody Nass narrowed the gap to 3 at 11:34 but Victoria captain Max Fredrickson tallied at 14:23, diving across in front. That was how the score went into the books – Victoria with an 8-4 lead and looking strong. Once again the shots on goal favoured the visitors by a 25-14 margin – 50-27 over two periods.

Unfortunately for the home team they were unable to maintain the momentum as the Islanders 5 straight to take a 9-8 lead at the 10:29 mark of period 3. Victoria replied as Ryan Lewis scored on a power play at 11:56 to get things back even and Rees Cullen got in close to beat Hood at 13:45. Adam Jay opened up a 2-goal Victoria lead at 15:46 with a shorthanded marker that went off Hood’s back into the cage. It may have looked as though the Shamrocks would get the sweep but one thing you can count on in B.C. Jr. A Lacrosse League play – nothing is for sure and the Islanders came back with a pair of goals just 22 seconds apart with the goaltender on the bench for the extra attacker. After 60 minutes, nothing was settled with the score tied at 11.

The 10-minute overtime saw Delta score first, at 4:37 but 9 seconds later, Ryan Lewis picked up his second of the game for the Rocks with a hard shot from the dotted line. The visitors added one more at 7:53 and the Shamrocks were unable to re-coup that one. Final shots on goal were 75-45 in favour of Delta, just to showcase how strong was the play of Charles Claxton in goal for the Shamrocks.

Leading the way offensively for the Rocks was Matt Hamilton with 2 goals and 3 assists. Ryan Lewis continued his strong play with 2 goals and 2 helpers. Singles came from Rees Cullen, Tyson Fair, Max Fredrickson, Nate Wade, David Byrne, Adam Jay, Brock Thompson-Marshall and Nick Preston, who also chipped in 3 assists.

The Jr. Shamrocks play their next 2 games on the road. They will travel to Langley for a contest next Sunday and take the road trip over the Malahat to take on the Nanaimo Timbermen on Tuesday, May 19. That game is a 7:00 pm start at the Frank Crane Arena. They return home Saturday, May 23 to take on the Burnaby Lakers at the Q Centre in a 5:00 contest.

Janice Huckin