Shamrocks Topple Timbermen

May 20, 2015

Timber!!! That was the sound of the Jr. Shamrocks handing the Jr. Timbermen a 10-8 loss on Nanaimo’s home floor Tuesday. Both teams have had a strong start to the season and in fact the T’Men were on a 3-game winning streak entering the contest.

Starting goaltenders were Charles Claxton for the Shamrocks and Jerryd Jensen for the home team. It was Nanaimo getting on the board first, Alec Molander tallying at 8:12. That 1-0 lead held up until late in the period when Nick Preston beat Jensen from outside the dotted line at 17:13 with the teams playing 4-on-4. Before the period ended, Dane Sorensen restored the Timbermen lead, scoring on a breakaway at 19:14 and that was how the period ended. Nanaimo had the 2-1 lead on the board, despite being outshot by a wide margin, 20-12.

Cole Kryworuchka increased the lead to a pair with a lot shot at 1:20 unassisted but Preston picked up his second of the game at 4:52, pulling the Shamrocks within a goal from right on front. The home team got on a 2-goal run, Brett Hawrys connecting first at 10:35, faking and shooting over top, that goal coming with his team shorthanded. He added another at 13:00 barging right through the defense to make it 5-2 for the Timbermen. One thing you can be sure of in this game is that almost no lead is safe and the Shamrocks responded with a 4-goal run in a span of a little over 3:30. First it was Cole Pickup, shooting from well out to find twine at 13:34. At 15:30 Dallas Wade connected on a Victoria power play with a quick stick. Just 20 seconds after that, Matt Hamilton got the visitors tied at 5 on a break. David Byrne then gave the Shamrocks their first lead of the contest, gathering in a long outlet pass and burying it at 16:07. The Rocks outshot the Timbermen 26-8 in the period and had the 6-5 lead on the scoreboard.

The third was typical Victoria-Nanaimo lacrosse as there were numerous penalties and the lead switched back and forth several times. First, Connor Leies got in close and tied the score on a Nanaimo power play. That goal came just 28 seconds into the period. Danny Smith replied at 3:22 for the Rocks, going coast to coast after taking the ball from Claxton in the crease. Once again, the T’Men tied things up, Sorensen picking up his second of the game, getting in close and picking up a rebound at 4:37. Pickup replied with his second for Victoria, wide open in front, tallying at 5:17. That made it 8-7 Shamrocks but not for long as Hawrys picked up his hat trick marker to tie things up once again. At exactly the halfway mark of the period, McLean Chicquen gave the Shamrocks the lead for the final time and team captain Max Fredrickson scored on a shovel shot late in the 30-second clock at 19:01, providing the insurance marker.

Leading the way for the Shamrocks were Cole Pickup with 2 goals and 2 assists, Nick Preston with 2 goals and 1 helper and McLean Chicquen also with a 3-point night on 1 goal and 2 assists. David Byrne, Max Fredrickson and Matt Hamilton each chipped in a goal and an assist with other goals coming from Danny Smith and Dallas Wade. Ryan Lewis chipped in a pair of assists, as did Charles Claxton, who also made 34 saves between the pipes to pick up the win.

Brett Hawrys led the Timbermen with the hat trick, while Dane Sorensen had a pair of goals.

The result has the Shamrocks in second place with 5 wins and 2 losses for 10 points, 2 points behind the league-leading Delta Islanders and 2 points ahead of the Coquitlam Adanacs who hold 2 games in hand. Next action for the Shamrocks is a home game this Saturday, May 23 when they will take on the Burnaby Lakers. Game time is 5:00 pm at the Q Centre.

Janice Huckin