’Rocks rally late for series lead
The Victoria Shamrocks were expecting a close game and they got one, out-lasting the Burnaby Lakers 9-6 on Tuesday night to draw first blood in the 2015 Western Lacrosse Association playoffs.
Victoria trailed 6-5 as Eli McLaughlin and Josh Byrne (on a behind the back goal) tallied in the first 3:40 of the third period to give the visitors their first lead of the game and temporarily silence the crowd of about 1,700.
Duch tied it at 6-6 on a 4-on-3 power play right at the 10:00 mark. Cory Conway restored the lead for the Shamrocks at 12:56 before Jesse King and Duch added some late insurance.
“They definitely pushed. That’s a very good team. They pushed back well and we answered it, which was great,” said Shamrocks head coach Bob Heyes. “The offence was very opportunistic. Cory Conway got a big goal for us and Duch did, too.
“It’s a tough game. It’s not going to be easy. That’s all a part of playing that physical game, as well. We didn’t expect them to be as physical, but now we’re ready for Game 2.”
Duch had a pair in the first period on assists from Corey Small and Doug Langlois had a breakaway goal on a long pass from goalie Adam Shute as the hosts opened up a 3-0 lead. Robert Church finally burst the bubble for Burnaby with 43.4 seconds to go in the opening frame.
It was a nasty opening 20 minutes and Burnaby’s Jason Jones was ejected midway through for hitting Duch in the change box as he sent the Shamrocks’ top scorer into the visiting players’ box.
Burnaby’s Scott Rouse then took a run at Ian McShane (who was injured and left the game), which drew a minor, but captains Small and Bryan Safarik were assessed majors for spearing and roughing, respectively, at 16:49 of the first.
The Lakers tied it at 3-3 with a pair of power-play goals from Church and Scott Jones before Jeff Shattler snapped a 23:03 drought for the Shamrocks at 9:25 of the middle period.
Shattler and Duch (with 1.7 seconds to go) gave the Shamrocks a 5-4 advantage going to the third.
“Home-court advantage played a little bit in the first couple of shifts. We came out hot and flying, but they weathered the storm well and got a late goal in the first and won the second,” said Duch. “We showed our character in the third and kind of took it to them a bit.”
Conway finished with a goal and two assists, as did King. Scott Jones and Justin Salt also scored for Burnaby.
Game 2 goes Thursday at 7:45 p.m. in Burnaby and the teams return to The Q Centre on Friday at 6 p.m.