Rocks Drop Game 1 of Minto Final

The Jr. ‘A’ Shamrocks dropped game 1 of their best-of-five Minto Cup final series, falling 10-8 to Ontario champion Orangeville Northmen.  The Northmen held period leads of 5-1 and 7-2 but Victoria got some momentum in period 3 to make the game close. 

Starting goaltenders were Cameron Dunkerley for the Rocks and Rylan Hartley for Orangeville.  O’Ville took an early lead, Dylan Watson tallying 3:08 into the opening frame with a hard, low shot from outside the dotted line.  He added his second at 4:43, going to the net and putting the ball over Dunkerley.  Victoria answered back at 10:40, Ben Preston hanging out in front of the net to beat Hartley.  Watson made it a hat trick with his goal that appeared to be from in the crease at 12:13 and added his fourth on the power play at the 16-minute mark from outside the dotted line.  That made it Watson 4, Shamrocks 1 before Jonathan Donville added one more for the Northmen at 15:17, that goal also coming with the man advantage.  Shots on goal were 27-10 in favour of Orangeville.

Period 2 saw just 3 goals scored, the first at the 30-second mark from Donville, his second of the game from outside the dotted line.  Teioshontathe McComber replied for the Rocks at 9:55 with a sidearm shot that went low to high.  Once more Orangeville’s power play clicked in with Watson’s 5^th of the game with his team holding a 5-on-3 advantage at 15:26.  Orangeville again held the edge in shots on goal 19-12 in the period.

Victoria got things going in the final 20 minutes, outscoring the Northmen 6-3 beginning with a 3-goal run to start the period.  First it was Patrick Dodds connecting on the power play at 1:24 with a bullet from just outside the dotted line.  Jackson Boyd added another just 23 seconds later with a bouncer from outside the dotted line and at 2:25 Caleb Kueber brought the Shamrocks within 2 on a shot that Hartley got a piece of but couldn’t quite hold onto.  Another Orangeville power play marker from Watson at 3:19 stopped Victoria’s run, that goal coming late in the 30 from in close.  Austin Madronic talliled for the Rocks at 4:11 with an overhand shot from outside the dotted line but once again the boys in green got into penalty problems, allowing 2 more power play goals for their opponents.  Who else but Donville and Watson each picking up goals with the man advantage at 9:39 and 12:34 respectively to open up a 10-6 lead.  The Shamrocks didn’t quit, however, and Madronic picked up his second of the game at 15:17 getting in close with the teams playing 4-on-4.  Dodds added his second at 18:20 with Dunkerley off for the extra attacker on a quick stick from the side of the crease but they were unable to close the gap further.  Shots on goal were a little closer, 21-17 in favour of Orangeville.

Leading the way offensively for the Shamrocks were Austin Madronic and Patrick Dodds each with a pair of goals and 1 assist.  Jackson Boyd added a goal and 3 assists while Caleb Kueber had a goal and 2 helpers.  Other goals came from Teioshontathe McComber and Ben Preston.  Cam Dunkerley made 57 saves in goal, some of the outstanding variety.

At the other end of the floor it was Dylan Watson with 7 goals and 3 assists, factoring into all 10 Orangeville goals.  Jonathan Donville had 3 goals and 6 helpers to round out the scoring.  Six of the 10 goals came on the power play as Victoria took a steady trek to the penalty box.

Game 2 goes at 7:00 Thursday and the Shamrocks will look to rebound, knowing they can keep pace if they play at even strength.