Shamrocks Take Series Lead

The Junior ‘A’ Shamrocks once again dominated on home floor as they took a 2 games to 1 lead in their league final series against the Langley Thunder Saturday with a 14-9 win at the Q Center.  The Rocks were down 3-2 after the first period before exploding for 9 goals in the second to take an 11-6 lead into the final 20 minutes.

As in the previous two games starting goaltenders were Adam Bland for the home team and Brayden Wandler for the visitors.  Victoria jumped out to an early lead, Mitch Sandberg scoring at 5:17 on a shot that Wandler got a piece of but couldn’t quite keep it from crossing the line.  Kyle Pepper made it 2-0 at 10:35 getting in close but Langley got on the board, scoring the next 3 goals.  The first came off the stick of Cody Malawsky at 12:38 on a delayed penalty call to the Rocks.  Ben Stewart knotted the score at 2 with a shot from inside the dotted line at 14:16 and the visitors added another at 14:59 from Drew Kask.  Langley held the edge in shots on goal by a 17-13 margin and were up 3-2 on the scoreboard going into the dressing room after 20 minutes.

It didn’t take long for the Shamrocks to get things started in period 2, Pepper picking up his second of the game at 1:52 from outside the dotted line.  Sandberg then collected his second of the night at 2:36 also beating Wandler from well out to give the home team a 1-goal lead.  It was short-lived as Langley replied at 3:07, Kyle Brunsch coming in off the faceoff to tie the score at 4.  Patrick Dodds gave the lead back to the Shamrocks with an unassisted tally at 3:46, going across in front of the net and Jonathon Boyd made it a 2-goal lead at 4:04 from the dotted line.  Once again the Thunder replied, Brunsch picking up his second of the game just 20 seconds later.  Victoria went on a 3-goal run to open things up starting with Pepper’s hat trick goal at 6:48 with a hard, low shot from outside the dotted line.  Cameron Lumb made it 8-5 for the boys in green at 7:54 on a run and Denton Macdonald tallied at 9:29 from the dotted line to open up a 9-5 lead before Matt Abbott finally solved Bland again, scoring at 12:16 on a run.  Victoria added two more before the period ended, Dodds getting his second at 13:17 on a bit of a hail Mary from well out and Matt Atkinson added another, a rare goal for the rearguard with an unassisted tally off a turnover at 14:38.  Victoria outshot Langley 23-10 in the period and were full value for the 11-6 lead.

Each team scored three times in the final period, trading goals as they went.  Pepper picked up his fourth for the Rocks at 6:30 with a hard, low shot from outside the dotted line.  Noah Armitage picked up a power play goal for the visitors at 7:40 but Victoria replied at 9:37 with a power play marker of its own, coming off the stick of Brodie Wade.  Brunsch got his hat trick goal for Langley, this one also with the man advantage at 11:26.  Shane Halliwell scored on a bullet from outside the dotted line at 12:33 and Armitage picked up his second for the visitors at 17:28 with the goaltender off for the extra attacker.  It was as close as they would get as the game deteriorated somewhat late with a series of unsportsmanlike penalties being assessed to both teams.

Leading the way for the Shamrocks was Kyle Pepper with 4 goals and 1 assist while Denton Macdonald had a 6-point night on a goal and 5 assists. Mitch Sandberg and Patrick Dodds each had a pair of goals, adding 2 and 1 assist respectively while Jonathon Boyd had a goal and 3 assists. Other goals came from Matt Atkinson, Brodie Wade and Shane Halliwell.  Finn Halladay chipped in 2 assists while Adam Bland made 31 saves and contributed an assist to the offense.

For Langley Kyle Brunsch had the hat trick and 2 assists while Noah Armitage was the only other player to get more than 1 past Bland, scoring twice and adding 1 helper.  Brayden Wandler made 43 saves in the loss.

Game 4 goes Sunday at 4 pm in Langley with game 5 back at the Q Center Wednesday, August 10 at 5 pm.