Shamrocks Defeat Islanders

The Delta Islanders came into the Q Center Saturday looking to even their record at 3-3 but the Junior ‘A’ Shamrocks pulled out a 14-9 victory to go into a second place tie with the Coquitlam Adanacs at 4-2 on the season.  Delta falls to 2-4.

Adam Bland got the start in goal for the Rocks with Ashton Leclair his counterpart at the other end of the floor.  Delta got the scoring started early, Mitch Sandberg tallying on a power play at 3:40 from in close.  Victoria replied with a pair, Patrick Dodds connecting at 4:06 from the dotted line followed by Kyle Pepper’s tally at 7:43 diving across the front of the net.  Some undisciplined play by the home side led to two more power play goals for Delta, Kade Hoogstraten scoring unassisted with a 5-on-3 advantage at 13:21 and Sandberg getting his second at 14:59 to open up a 3-2 lead.  The Rocks came back with a pair to end first period scoring.  It was Pepper getting his second at 15:31 with a delayed penalty about to be called on Delta and Kaden Granberg gave the Shamrocks a 4-3 lead at 16:34, that goal coming shorthanded as he took a pass from goaltender Bland and rushed coast to coast.

Victoria opened second period scoring at 6:40, Brodie Wade getting in close to put the home team up by a pair.  Delta pulled within a goal on yet another power play marker at 9:58 with a hard, low shot from outside the dotted line.  The boys in green rattled off a pair, Denton Macdonald scoring at 11:02 from inside the dotted line and Finn Halladay following up at 13:50 as he faked high and shot low to beat Leclair.  The teams traded goals, the Islanders getting a goal from Ben McDonald at 14:17 on a shot that went off the post and found twine behind Bland.  Victoria replied off the ensuing faceoff, Macdonald picking up his second of the contest at 14:35 on a run to the net.  That made it 8-5 for the home side as they outshot the visitors 38-25 over 40 minutes.

Victoria started to pull away in the final frame and applied pressure against the Islanders defensively to force turnovers.  Macdonald picked up his hat trick marker for the Rocks just 49 seconds into period 3 off a loose ball in front.  Delta replied on a power play at 5:43 with a hard overhand shot off the stick of Sandberg from outside the dotted line but Victoria came back just 8 seconds later with Davis McCulley’s goal, a shot that dribbled across the line.  Aido Solomon scored on a delayed penalty call at 7:29 on a change-up from the slot.  Delta’s Joey Debaughn got one back at 8:23, their 6^th power play goal of the game but the Shamrocks put the game away with 3 straight goals.  Dodds picked up his second of the game at 10:59 followed by Wade’s second at 11:25 on a quick pass to the front.  Halladay picked up his second of the game on an almost-carbon-copy at 11:40 before Delta closed out the scoring with a pair, Sandberg collecting his fourth of the contest at 16:23 and Rhys Porteous adding another at 17:56 to make the final 14-9 for the Shamrocks.

Denton Macdonald led Victoria’s offense with 5 goals and 3 assists while rookie Luca Pivetta added 5 assists.  Kyle Pepper, Finn Halladay and Patrick Dodds each had 2 goals and 2 assists whileBrodie Wade had 2 goals and 1 helper.  Isaac Swan had 3 assists while Kaden Granberg and Davis McCulley each chipped in a goal and an assist.  Dodds was coming off a strong 3-goal and 3-assist performance as a call-up to the WLA Senior ‘A’ Shamrocks Friday night, a very productive weekend for the team's veteran and captain.

The Junior ‘A’ Shamrocks have a couple of road games before returning to the Q Center.  They will face the Port Coquitlam Saints Sunday and travel to Burnaby next Sunday, June 12 to face the Lakers before a mid-week home contest against the Nanaimo Timbermen.  Game time for that match-up is Tuesday, June 14 at 7:30 pm.

The Tier 1 Junior B Shamrocks are in action next Saturday at the Q Center in a 1:00 pm start against the Delta Islanders.