Jr. Rocks Down 2-0 in Series

July 12, 2015

 

 

The Jr. Shamrocks needed a win big time in game 2 of their best-of-five semi-final series against the Delta Islanders Sunday. After dropping game 1 on home floor 14-6 Saturday, the Shamrocks came close on the mainland but fell short by a 7-6 score to go down 2 games to none.

 

Starting goaltenders were once again Charles Claxton for the Rocks and Ryland Hood for the Islanders. It was Delta getting on the board first, Tre Leclair tally8ing from the dotted line at 5:05. Victoria replied almost immediately, Jake Cullen getting in close at 5:30 to even things up. Just 29 seconds later, however it was Spencer Bromley re-gaining the lead for the home team, cutting in from the side. At 8:23, Cullen picked up his second of the game for the Rocks, that goal coming on the power play. Ryan Lewis gave the boys in green the lead for the first time at 13:03 with a backhander and before the period ended, Cole Pickup added a shorthanded marker at 19:25 as he tip-toed to the front, around Delta’s defense to give the Rocks the 4-2 lead after 20 minutes despite being outshot 19-14 in the period.

 

Victoria had a chance to put some distance between them with a 5-minute power play early in period 2 but Delta controlled the ball for almost the entire 5 minutes. The Shamrocks managed to get their hands on the ball twice, coming up with 1 shot on goal and another that missed. The penalty kill clearly gave Delta some momentum and they got a pair of goals, the first from Cody Nass at 10:04 off a rebound and the second on the power play from Evan Messenger at 11:45 from outside the dotted line. All of a sudden things were back even at 4-4. Pickup got his second for the Shamrocks at 14:12 as he gathered in a pass from Zac Christianson on transition and made no mistake. That was the meat in the sandwich as Delta rounded out the period with 2 more, both from Bromley, the first at 15:49 as he spun around in front and the second off the ensuing faceoff just 8 seconds later. After 2 periods the score was 6-5 for the Islanders and they had a 38-23 edge in shots on goal.

 

McLean Chicquen pulled the Shamrocks within a goal on the power play just past the midway point of period 3, shooting from outside the dotted line at 11:03. Delta made great use of the clock, managed to add one more goal to the scoresheet, Shawn Richardson scoring at 15:04, a shot on which he certainly appeared to be in the crease. It provided the margin of victory and sends the Shamrocks back home for game 3 next weekend.

 

It was certainly a much better game for the Shamrocks than in game 1 but the result still eluded them. Cole Pickup and Jake Cullen each had a pair of goals for the Shamrocks while McLean Chicquen and Ryan Lewis had the others. Charles Claxton made 47 saves as Victoria was outshot 54-41 overall. Game 3 will be played in Arena ‘A’ at Panorama Recreation Centre next Saturday, July 18. Start time is 5:00 pm and the Rocks will be looking to bounce back to force game 4 on the 19th.

-Janice Huckin