Jr. Rocks Lose a Pair

It’s early in the 2016 season and the Jr. Shamrocks are gradually getting all their players back but it has been a struggle to date and the troubles continued with a pair of losses over the May 14-15 weekend. The Rocks stayed close for a good part of their home game Saturday but the visiting New Westminster Salmonbellies had a strong finish to come away with a 13-10 win. Victoria then took to the road as they took on the Coquitlam Adanacs in an early Sunday afternoon encounter, losing 12-8 to the Adanacs. Not a runaway by any stretch but a loss nevertheless.

Saturday’s contest saw the visiting ‘Bellies holding period leads of 5-4 and 10-8 with the Shamrocks at one point in period 2 taking a 6-5 lead for a brief time. Mitchell Gurney had a fairly solid outing in goal but a 5-minute major penalty to the Shamrocks saw New West’s power play score twice late in the second period to give them the momentum heading into the third.

Braylon Lumb led the Shamrocks offensively with a hat trick while Brad McCulley and Matthew Hamilton scored twice each and added 2 and 1 assist respectively. Singles came from Eddie Smith, Nate Wade, Dallas Wade. Daniel Smith and Nick Preston each contributed a pair of assists.

In Sunday’s road game, the netminding for the Shamrocks was shared between starter Mitchell Gurney and Jr. B call-up Liam Reid. Unfortunately, for the Rocks, the Adanacs got on an early roll and were up 6-0 before Braylon Lumb finally tallied to make it 6-1 at the 19:46 mark. Shots on goal were even at 17-17 after 20 minutes.

Period 2 saw the Shamrocks gain a bit of momentum as they were able to end the period down 10-6. They scored the first goal of the period off the stick of Nick Preston and then got on a 3-goal run at the end of the period with Matthew Hamilton, Daniel Smith shorthanded and Cole Pickup scoring. Eddie Smith managed a goal in between. The third period saw the teams trade goals, Nick Preston and Dallas Wade tallying for the Shamrocks with Coquitlam scoring their 12th goal into the empty net as Victoria pressed with the extra attacker. Shots on goal favoured Coquitlam 56-49 overall.

Cole Pickup and Nick Preston led Victoria’s offense with a pair of goals each with Matthew Hamilton, Braylon Lumb, Eddie Smith and Dallas Wade with a highlight reel goal adding singles. Brad McCulley and Brock Thompson-Marshall each had a pair of assists. The 2 losses drop the Shamrocks into 5th place with a 2-4 record.

Next up for the Shamrocks is a home game next Saturday, May 21 when they will face the Langley Thunder in a 5:00 contest at the Q Centre.
- Janice Huckin