Rocks Sink Lakers

by Janice Huckin

The Jr. ‘A’ Shamrocks made it 2 wins in a row with a home floor 18-8 victory over the visiting Burnaby Lakers Saturday at the Q Center.  The last place Lakers kept things close for the first 20 minutes but the Rocks ran away with it over the final 40 minutes.

Ryan Atkinson got the start in goal for Victoria and made the most of his opportunity with a very strong performance, while Matteo Tack got the start for the visitors.  Victoria opened the scoring just 39 seconds in, Austin Madronic getting in close and Madronic added his second at 6:13, a shot that goaltender Tack got a piece of but couldn’t quite contain.  Burnaby replied at 6:58, Thomas Vela scoring with a hard overhand shot fromoutside the dotted line.  Victoria went on a 3-goal run beginning with Casey Wilson’s goal at 13:52, going to the net.  Brian Robb made it 4-1 Shamrocks at 16:13, collecting a pass going to the net and Ben Preston picked up Victoria’s fifth goal at 16:44 finishing off some tic-tac-toe passing inside the dotted line.  Burnaby didn’t quit and picked up 3 goals of their own to close the gap to a single goal.  First it was Marcus Klarich at 17:38 then Ty Yanko at 18:13 and finally Liam Smith with the Lakers’ fifth goal at 18:45 making it 3 goals in 1:07.  Before the period ended, Patrick Dodds picked up a rebound right in front and put it behind Tack at 19:33 to make it 6-4 Shamrocks after 20 minutes.

The second period was all Shamrocks as they outscored the visitors 9-2 in the period beginning with a 6-goal run to start the frame.  Zach Manns scored at 2:59 with a howitzer from outside the dotted line.  Special teams factored into the next several goals, Patrick Dodds picking up his second at 4:04 with a delayed penalty about to be called.  Dodds picked up his second on the power play at 7:08, followed by two more off the stick of Madronic, his third and fourth of the contest, one on a delayed penalty and the other on the power play.  Defender Nick Murray got in on the scoring for the Rocks with a goal at 9:18 as Victoria scored 4 goals in  2:10.  Burnaby’s power play got in on the act with Dylan Kaminski’s goal at 10:59 and Parker Corbett scored unassisted for the visitors at 11:46.  Victoria finished the period with a 3 goal run, two of those coming shorthanded.  Preston picked up his second of the game at 12:27 from inside the dotted line.  At 16:39, Kyle Pepper gobbled up a loose ball and fed it to Garrett Wicks who found twine, the first of 2 shorthanded goals.  Denton Macdonald scored another shorthanded marker at 19:24 on a give and go with Liam Phillips.  That made it 15-6 after 40 minutes for the Shamrocks.

The final period saw just 5 goals scored, 3 of those by the Shamrocks as Manns picked up his second just 1:52 in.  Burnaby replied with a pair, Yano getting his second at 6:05 and Klarich getting his second of the game at 8:38 on the power play.  Victoria’s Wilson picked up his second at 12:39 grabbing a pass from behind the net from Jackson Boyd and Manns picked up his hat trick marker at 13:30 from the dotted line.  Late in the game some extracurricular activity resulted in the ejection of Victoria’s Brody Black and Burnaby’s Parker Corbett.

Austin Madronic and Patrick Dodds each had 8-point nights for the Shamrocks, the former with 4 goals and 4 helpers, the latter with the hat trick and 5 assists.  Zach Manns continues to lead the league in scoring and chipped in 3 goals and an assist.  Ben Preston had 2 of each and Caleb Kueber added 4 assists.  Other goals came from Casey Wilson with a pair and singles from Garrett Wicks, Nick Murray, Denton MacDonald, and Brian Robb.  Nearly every Shamrock got on the scoresheet with at least a point.  Ryan Atkinson was stellar in goal, kicking out 39 of the 47 shots he faced, including many during various Burnaby power plays.

Things get a little tougher Sunday for the Shamrocks as they travel to Coquitlam to face the as yet undefeated Adanacs at 2:00 pm.  The Jr. ‘A’ Rocks return to the Q Center next Saturday at 5:00 where they will host the New Westminster Salmonbellies.  The Tier 1 Rocks will host the Salmonbellies also next Saturday, that game beginning at 1:00 pm at the Q Center.  Both teams are competing at a high level so come out for some great lacrosse action.