Jr. Rocks Finish with Weekend Sweep

July 5, 2015

The Jr. Shamrocks made it a weekend sweep Sunday with a second consecutive victory against the Port Coquitlam Saints. After toppling the Saints 11-7 at home Saturday, they went into enemy territory and emerged with a 9-5 win to give them a regular season record of 14 wins, 6 losses and a tie, good for 29 points.

The Rocks jumped out to a 5-1 first period lead behind the goalkeeping of starter Charles Claxton. It was Jamie Jensen getting the party started at 5:44 with a shorthanded goal that trickled by PoCo starter Andrew Gallant. Another shorthanded tally at 6:15 off the stick of Cole Pickup who got on a run in alone made it 2-0. Port Coquitlam replied at 7:16, Ty Klarner getting in close with a delayed penalty about to be called on the Rocks. Pickup picked up his second off the ensuing faceoff, just 6 seconds later. That was as close as they got in that period as Victoria rattled off a couple of power play markers, the first at 13:56, McLean Chicquen with a quick stick in close. Jake Cullen than added another at 15:44 on a break and the Shamrocks holding a 4-on-3 man advantage. Shots on goal favoured Victoria by a 23-6 margin.

The second period saw just 4 goals scored as the Saints opened with a shorthanded marker from intermediate call-up Dylan Foulds off a rebound in front at 10:59. Jake Cullen got that one back at 11:23 and Pickup picked up a pair, his third and fourth of the game at 18:20 and 19:32. That made it 8-2 for the boys in green after 40 minutes.

The Shamrocks opted to have a look at the newly-acquired Matt Zeller in period 3 as he replaced Claxton between the pipes. PoCo mounted a mini-comeback with 3 of the 4 final period goals. Quinton Pavan scored on the power play at 3:58 as Victoria ran into penalty problems. Pickup collected his fifth at 8:37 and Ty Klarner scored twice for the Saints to round out the scoring, as he finished with the hat trick in a losing cause.

Cole Pickup led Victoria’s offense with 5 goals and an assist. Jake Cullen had a pair of goals and 3 helpers with other goals coming from McLean Chicquen, Jamie Jensen. Matt Hamilton chipped in a pair of assists. The regular season is now over for the Shamrocks and they await the results of a couple of other later games to see where they place and who they face in the playoffs which will begin next weekend, July 11-12.

-Janice Huckin