Island rivals on course for showdown in WLA playoffs
The last time the Nanaimo Timbermen made the Western Lacrosse Association playoffs, Barack Obama was a little-known U.S. senator and it was No Country for Old Men.
Not only are the Timbermen going to the playoffs for the first time in 11 seasons, but they will meet the second-place Victoria Shamrocks (12-5) in an all-Island semifinal series.
“We would have taken whoever we got as a match-up, but I wanted to see an all-Island series,” said Shamrocks head coach Bob Heyes.
“It’s going to create excitement and be great for lacrosse. And as far as travel, we’d be stupid to say we don’t want to remain on the Island and drive an hour and a half, versus travelling to the Lower Mainland.”
The best-of-seven Shamrocks Timber men semifinal series will open at the Q Centre on Wednesday night with Game 2 on Friday at Frank Crane Arena in Nanaimo. Game 3 will be at the Q Centre next Sunday.
The Timbermen (10-7-1) clinched third place Saturday night with a 13-5 regular seasonending victory over the Burnaby Lakers (6-11-1) at Frank Crane Arena.
The Lakers will miss the playoffs, along with the Langley Thunder and Coquitlam Adanacs.
The other playoff semifinal series will feature the WLA regular-season champion New Westminster Salmonbellies (14-3) against the fourth-place Maple Ridge Burrards (9-8-1).
The Shamrocks and Salmon bellies close out the WLA regular season with a meaningless game this evening at 6 p.m. at the Q Centre.
Of interest is the possibility this could be a preview of the 2018 WLA final, as the Shamrocks look for redemption, following last year's loss to New Westminster in five games in the 2017 league final.
But only, perhaps, today with shadow rosters.
“We may rest some guys, and I expect New Westminster to do the same,” Heyes said.
Roster choices today, however, could affect league individual scoring positions.
Vancouver Stealth NLL-pro Logan Schuss of the Salmonbellies, a former field-lacrosse star in the NCAA Big Ten with the Ohio State Buckeyes, looks to have the WLA scoring championship locked up with 103 points. Casey Jackson and Jesse King of Victoria are second and third with 94 and 93 points, respectively. It’s an all VictoriaNew Westminster show as Salmonbellies players Mitch Jones and Jordan McBride round out the top-five at 88 and 81 points.
Victoria’s Jackson looks of have the league goals title secured with 45, which is six clear of second-place Jones of New Westminster on 39 goals.
“[Today’s game] doesn’t mean anything only in the standings. You have to be playing hard going into the playoffs because you don’t want to be getting into bad habits, especially now,” said Rob Hellyer, the NLL pro from the Toronto Rock, who has been a standout for Victoria.
“And our crowd gets us going. You have to play full blast as an athlete. When you don’t is when you get injured.”
The Shamrocks will feature the King brothers combination the rest of the way. Junior Shamrocks call-up Marshal King, out of NCAA Div. 1 Drexel University field-lacrosse, joins older brother and Shamrocks veteran Jesse King, who played in the NCAA for the Ohio State Buckeyes. It will be the first time the brothers have played together.
Marshal King was part of a group of Junior Shamrock call ups who showed well Friday night in a 15-4 victory over Coquitlam at the Q Centre. “The kids were awesome. They played like they’ve been here all season,” Hellyer said.