Shamrocks Hammer Saints

By Janice Huckin - The Jr. Shamrocks were very inhospitable hosts Saturday as they sent the visiting Port Coquitlam Saints home on the losing end of a 15-5 walloping at the Q Centre. 

Ryley Brown got a rare start in goal at home for the Shamrocks while Guilio DelBianco got the nod for the Saints. The Saints hit the scoreboard first, Tanner Fisher tallying at the 1:14 mark of the opening frame. About 3 ½ minutes later they made it 2-0, Fisher getting his second. The Shamrocks bounced back as McLean Chicquen scored at 6:46 as he was being driven into the crease. The goal stood but Chicquen took a minor penalty for crease play. PoCo came back with 2 more, the first at 8:24 from Pierce Watson and the second on a power play at 14:27 which, unfortunately spelled the end of the night for Brown as he was replaced in the Victoria goal by Charles Claxton. Exactly a minute later, Cole Pickup scored for the Shamrocks on a 5-on-3 power play with a quick stick in front. That was how the period ended, with the Saints ahead 4-2 and also ahead in shots on goal by a 17-14 margin. 

Unfortunately for the visitors, their night was about to go really badly starting in period 2 as the Shamrocks rattled off 6 unanswered goals. They came from in close and from far away as Victoria players ran around the defenders time and again. Goals came from Cole Pickup who added a pair to his early counter, Max Fredrickson also with a pair, Darren Bourret and Nate Wade to make the score 8-4 after 40 minutes. 

Again in period 3 it was the Saints trying to come back as Fisher picked up his hat trick marker at 1:22 on the power play. That was the only goal Claxton allowed in his relief role while his Shamrock teammates added 7 to their total. The Saints had nothing left in their collective tanks as DelBianco gave way between the pipes to Bryce Phoenix with the score 13-5. It was a tough loss for the Saints who were playing their second game in 2 nights, giving up a total of 34 goals in the two contests while scoring just 10. 

Just about every Shamrock hit the scoresheet in the game with Max Fredrickson and Cole Pickup each picking up the hat trick and adding 3 and 2 assists respectively. Fred Bathurst-Hunt, Ryan Lewis and McLean Chicquen each scored twice with singles coming from Chris Kasper, Nate Wade and Darren Bourret. Charles Claxton was solid in relief, kicking out 30 of the 31 shots he faced and picking up a pair of assists to help in the offensive onslaught. 

The win keeps the Shamrocks 2 points ahead of Nanaimo who also managed to pull off a win in Duncan against the Langley Thunder and 3 points behind Delta on whom Victoria holds 3 games in hand and who will provide the opposition as the Shamrocks take to the floor again tomorrow. Game time is 5:00 pm at the Q Centre.