Saints Even Series at Home

The best-of-five league semi-final between the Victoria Jr. A Shamrocks and the Port Coquitlam Saints moved to the mainland Sunday for game 2. PoCo evened the series at a game apiece with a 10-7 win.

As in game 1, starting goaltenders were Greyson Beggs for Victoria and Waukigan Shognosh for the Saints. The Rocks scored first, Ryan Lowe connecting at 2:31 with a hard low shot from outside the dotted line. Marcelo Carreiro made it 2-0 at 5:24 going to the net. PoCo replied at 11:09, Josh Mills getting in close and shooting over Beggs. Lincoln Wall then knotted the score, reaching from behind the net at 19:18. Despite Victoria outshooting the Saints 22-14, the score was tied at 2.

Blake Young opened scoring for the home team in period 2, tallying on a breakaway at 5:27 to take their first lead of the game. It was short-lived, however, as Greysen Thompson replied and tied things up again at 6:01, cutting in from the side. Victoria regained the lead at 6:48, defender Phillip Busenius picking up a goal for the second game in a row. Luca Pivetta made it a 2-goal lead with an unassisted shorthanded goal at 10:41, going coast to coast. Wall picked up his second of the game for the Saints at 18:19 diving across the crease. The Shamrocks took a 5-4 lead into the dressing room and shots had evened up, PoCo leading 35-34 in that category after 40 minutes.

Port Coquitlam took charge in the final frame, outscoring the visitors 6-2. They started off with Elijah Terry’s goal just 1:19 in as he spun around and fired from outside the dotted line to tie the score at 5. Jared Maznick gave the home team the lead at 4:03 but again it was short-lived as Pivetta replied for the Shamrocks at 6:40 on another breakaway, his second of the game. They took the lead on another goal off transition, Busenius getting his second at 8:35. The tide then turned heavily in favour of the home team, as they went on a 4-goal run. Oskar Lucas tallied at 10:27 shooting around a screen to knot the score at 7. They added 3 more in the final 3 minutes, Kris Fournier at 17:26 followed by Wall with his third at 19:13 and Lucas with his second, an empty-netter at 19:47.

Victoria was led offensively by a couple of defenders as Phillip Busenius and Luca Pivetta each had 2 goals. Team captain Greysen Thompson and Ryan Lowe each chipped in a goal and an assist while Jett Klassen and Parker Sorenson had 2 assists. Marcelo Carreiro had the other Victoria goal. Lowe and Cooper Anderson combined to win 13 of 18 faceoffs and Greyson Beggs made 29 saves.

There was not a lot to choose between these two teams during the regular season as they finished with identical 12-6 records. Victoria won 2 of the 3 head-to-head battles and this is shaping up to be a tight series. The teams return to the Q Center for game 3 Tuesday, July 21. Game time is 5:00 pm.

In the other series, game 1 took place Sunday and the Coquitlam Adanacs had all they could handle in the Langley Thunder, emerging with an 11-10 victory. Game 2 from Langley takes place Tuesday.

- Janice Huckin