Determined Shamrocks sail past Burrards
The Victoria Shamrocks responded with spirit and determination after a demoralizing previous loss.
The Shamrocks defeated the Maple Ridge Burrards in comprehensive fashion, 12-5, on Friday night in a Western Lacrosse Association game before a near-capacity crowd at the Q Centre. That came after falling 9-7 to the also-ran Thunder on Wednesday night at the Langley Events Centre.
The results follow a season pattern in which the Shamrocks seem to get jacked for the big games yet get taken by surprise by the teams of lower standing, especially on the road.
“A lot of that has to do with our home crowd, which really gets us hyped up,” said Shamrocks rookie forward Tyson Gibson, who scored three goals on a six-point night.
“We’re a young group that is still learning.”
The Shamrocks (10-5) took over second place from the Burrards (9-7-1), four points behind the leading New Westminster Salmonbellies. The Shamrocks and ’Bellies each have three games remaining.
“We played a good playoff-type game tonight,” said Shamrocks head coach Bob Heyes.
It helped Victoria’s cause on Friday against the Burrards that superstar sniper Curtis Dickson, representing Canada at the world field-lacrosse championships in Israel, was missing from the Maple Ridge lineup.
Casey Jackson had three goals and four assists for Victoria in a 61-shot attack while Maple Ridge could only muster 38 in return. Gibson added three goals and three assists for the Shamrocks while Rob Hellyer had a goal on a five-point night.
“It feels good to win,” said Gibson, who helped lead Robert Morris University of Pittsburgh to the conference title and second round of the NCAA Div. 1 fieldlacrosse tournament in the spring.
Victoria is 6-1 this season at home in the Q Centre.
But the Shamrocks again enter the danger zone against lowerranked opposition on the road tonight when they are in Coquitlam to take on the last-place Adanacs (2-13).
The joke is that the Adanacs might have the Shamrocks just where they want them, based on this season’s quirky form.
“The guys had a good talk about that just now in the dressing room [about not following a high at home with a poor road performance against a lower-level team],” said Heyes.