Rocks Split Weekend Games

After picking up a pair of home wins last weekend, the Jr. ‘A’ Shamrocks extended their winning streak to 3 with a 14-7 victory over the visiting Burnaby Lakers Saturday at the Q Center.  That was followed by a 12-7 loss to the Langley Thunder Sunday on the mainland.

Starting goaltenders were Cameron Dunkerley for the home team and Matteo Tack for the visitors Saturday and it was the visitors scoring first, Ty Yanko finding the back of the net at 4:47, faking high and shooting low.  Victoria replied less than a minute later, Ben Preston scoring at 5:34 from in close.  The home team took the lead at 9:21 when Casey Wilson scored on a quick stick in close but just 31 seconds later, the Lakers had the score tied at 2 with Dylan Kaminski’s goal.  The teams traded goals before the period ended, Victoria getting a goal from Brayden McQuarrie on a transition run at 11:52 and Burnaby once again evening things up at 16:29, Sam LaRoue getting in close.  Nothing to separate the teams after 20 minutes, with the score tied 3-3 and shots pretty even with Victoria holding a slight 14-12 edge.

The Shamrocks opened things up in the middle frame, as they outscored the Lakers 7-3, beginning with a 3-goal run to start the period.  First it was Zach Manns scoring at 3:50 in close.  At 8:03, Angus Connorton got a break on transition and scored at 8:03, pulling in a pass from goaltender Dunkerley.  A power goal made it 6-3 Victoria, Manns getting his second of the game at 8:39, a shot that Tack got a piece of but saw it trickle over the line.  Burnaby picked up a couple, both from Ty Yanko, the first at 9:18 and a second, unassisted, at 13:29 to pull the Lakers within a pair.  Once again, Victoria’s offense exploded for 3 straight goals, Manns picking up his hat trick marker at 13:45 with a bullet from the dotted line.  Preston picked up his second, on the power play, at 15:25 and Jackson Boyd, in his first game since returning from school, added another at 16:08, getting in close.  The teams traded goals, Burnaby getting a fourth goal from Yanko at 19:03 and Preston getting his hat trick goal at 19:59 with the goalie on the bench for an extra attacker.  Shamrocks again had the edge in shots on goal 18-14 in the period and were up 10-6 after 40 minutes.

Burnaby scored early in the final period, Kaminski getting his second but it was all Shamrocks after that as they scored 4 unanswered goals.  Wilson collected his second of the game at 11:10 on a run.  Patrick Dodds added another at 11:31 and Denton Macdoald added another at 12:37, the third Victoria goal in 1:27.  Ryan Atkinson replaced Dunkerley for the final 7 minutes and Kyle Pepper popped in one more goal, an unassisted tally at 16:25 as he fought off a defender and went to the net.

Zach Manns had a 6-point night with 3 goals and 3 assists.  Ben Preston had the hat trick and 2 helpers while Casey Wilson added 2 goals and an assist.  Singles came from Denton Macdonald, Angus Connorton, Kyle Pepper, Brayden Mcquarrie, Patrick Dodds and Jackson Boyd, the latter two adding 4 and 3 assists respectively.  Brayden Brown contributed 4 assists with Cameron Dunkerley picking up the win, stopping 24 of the 31 shots he faced.  Ryan Atkinson, in a relief role stopped all 6 shots he faced. 

Sunday’s game was a roller coaster ride for the Rocks who jumped out to an early 2-0 lead only to find themselves down 6-2 at the first period break.  Scoring all 4 goals in the middle frame to tie the game going into the final period, the wheels fell off in the final frame.  Langley scored 6 straight before the Rocks scored the final goal of the contest.   Zach Manns continues to lead Victoria’s offense, picking up 3 points on 2 goals and 1 helper.  Jackson Boyd chipped in a goal and 2 assists with singles coming from Garrett Wicks, Aido Solomon, Ben Preston and Casey Wilson.

The Rocks’ next home game takes place in Duncan Wednesday at 7:30 when they will face their island rivals, the Nanaimo Timbermen who are off to a 4-0 start with a pair of weekend wins.