Another Weekend Split for Shamrocks

The Jr. Shamrocks stayed at .500 as they picked up a road win Sunday against the Burnaby Lakers, coming away with a 12-9 victory to give them a weekend split. The Rocks fell 14-4 to the Coquitlam Adanacs at home Saturday.

Mitch Gurney got his second straight start in goal for Victoria with Thomas Hankins his counterpart. The Shamrocks scored first, Steve Ackinclose tallying on a breakaway at 1:48 but Burnaby came back with a pair, the first coming at 2:32 off the stick of Wyatt Pinder who would finish the night with 4 and the second at 3:06 on the power play from Danny Spagnuolo. The Shamrocks found the range for the next 4 goals, something they were unable to do at home Saturday. Cole Pickup scored twice, at 7:18 jumping up and putting the ball over the goalie and again at 9:13 with a bouncer from well out. Brad McCulley took over for the next 2, scoring at 11:19 with a quick stick from the side of the crease and at 12:01 just seconds into a power play. Before the period ended, Pinder scored his second for the home Lakers, getting in close at 14:25 with the teams playing 4-on-4. The Rocks took a 5-3 lead to the dressing room after 20 minutes.

Pinder picked up his hat trick marker 1:57 into the middle frame with a long hard shot, getting the home team within a goal. That lasted until the 4:43 mark when Brock Thompson-Marshall regained Victoria’s 2-goal lead with a shot from the center slot. The teams traded goals with Dale Darby tallying at 5:48 on a run for Burnaby and Matt Hamilton getting that one back at 9:24, faking high and shooting low. Burnaby continued to press and Dale Gabriele closed the gap to one again with a bullet from outside the dotted line at 10:17. Once again, though, the Shamrocks got on a roll, ending the period with 3 unanswered goals. Colten Merilainen tallied twice, the first coming on the power play at 15:55 and then at 16:31, tip toeing to the side of the crease. That ended Hankins’ night as he was replaced in the Burnaby crease by Jr. B call-up Matt Hans. He allowed a power play goal off the stick of Adam Jay at 19:03 to give the Shamrocks a 10-6 lead heading into the final 20 minutes.

The third period began with another quick tally from the home team as Pinder picked up his fourth of the game just 1:52 in, going to the net. Pickup responded with his hat trick marker at 3:45 and Thompson-Marshall picked up his second for the Shamrocks at 14:03, both of those coming off long shots. The Lakers got a couple of late tallies, Connor McNeill scoring on a breakaway at 18:36 and Spagnuolo adding a power play tally at 19:27 to fall just short.

Cole Pickup continued his hot streak with 3 goals and 3 helpers while Colten Merilainen and Brock Thompson-Marshall each picked up 2 goals and 3 assists. Brad McCulley also had a pair of goals with Matt Hamilton, Adam Jay and Steve Ackinclose adding singles and Dallas Wade chipping in 3 assists. Mitch Gurney made 35 saves to pick up the win.

The Shamrocks are back home next Saturday, when they will face the New Westminster Salmonbellies. Game time at the Q Centre is 5:00 pm. Fans can also catch the Intermediate Shamrocks on the 14th as they host the Delta Islanders at 1:30 pm.

- Janice Huckin