Thunder Outlast Shamrocks

It wasnot what you would call a goaltenders’ battle at the Q Centre Saturday as the Langley Thunder came into the Q Centre and took a 17-16 victory over the Shamrocks. 

Starting goaltenders were Spencer Erwin for the Shamrocks and Jake Sundar for the Thunder and it was Victoria scoring first, Cole Pickup tallying at 1:33 getting in close.  At 3:17 the Rocks went up by a pair with a power play goal off the stick of Nick Preston from outside the dotted line.  Langley replied at 4:12, Nathaniel Kozevnikov finding twine on a run to the net.  Victoria’s offense went to work and added to their lead with 3 straight goals, the first at 4:44 courtesy of Brad McCulley, after which he took a hit for the team which resulted in a power play.  Braylon Lumb scored with the man advantage at 6:06 with a quick stick from the side and Preston picked up his second also on the power play at 6:29 from outside the dotted line.  That put an end to Sundar’s night as he was replaced by Torin Vanrheenan between the pipes for Langley.  The change appeared to pay off as the Thunder caught fire for 3 straight goals of their own. Dawson Rodin scored at 7:31 and Kozevnikov added his second with a delayed penalty about to be called from inside the dotted line.  Langley closed the gap to a single goal at 19:03, Ryan Martel shooting from outside the dotted line and that had the Shamrocks with a thin 9-8 lead after 20 minutes.  Shots on goal were even at 13. 

The middle frame saw the Shamrocks again score early, Skyler Wilson tallying at 3:26 from in close.  Langley came back to tie the score with goals from Trevor Chernoff and Caleb Pearson at 4:24 and 6:16 but Victoria went on another 3-goal run. McCulley got his second of the game at 6:47 and Wilson added a pair, the first at 7:05 and then again at 7:48. The home team was up 9-6 but unfortunately it would not last long.  Langley came back with a pair at 9:55 and 10:44 fromChernoff and Kozevnikov, both getting in close.  Pickup got one back for the Shamrocks at12:05, fighting off a couple of defenders to get to the net but the Thunder stormed back to tie the score with goals at 14:59 and 16:49 from Kozevnikov and Mason Hicks.  Shots were again even at 18 each in the period and they were deadlocked at 10 on the scoreboard. 

The teams combined for thirteen goals in the final 20 minutes including 4 Langley shorthanded goals which was the killing blow at the end of the day.  Goals came fast and furious and with Langley holding a 17-14 lead at the 14:08 mark, Victoria replaced Erwin in goal with Will Kinnaird.  He did not allow a goal and the Shamrocks did manage to score a couple late in the period but couldn’t quite manage to pull out a win. 

Cole Pickup led Victoria’s offense with 4 goals and 6 assists.  Brad McCulley and Nick Preston each had the hat trick and added 4 and 2 assists respectively.  Braylon Lumb and Skyler Wilson each had a pairof goals and Marshal King contributed 6 assists. 

The Shamrocks are on the road to face the Burnaby Lakers Sunday where they will look to try and turn their fortunes around after 2 straight losses.  They return to the Q Centre for an all-island match-up on Tuesday, June 27.  Game time is 8:00 pm for the Nanaimo Timbermen and Shamrocks in the first of 2 consecutive games between the two teams.