In the hunt
Victoria Shamrocks’ Mack Mitchell and Nanaimo Timbermens’ Brady Eastwood chase the ball in Western Lacrosse Association playoff action at The Q Centre on Wednesday. Nanaimo won the game 12-11 in overtime. The next game in the series is in Nanaimo on Friday.
The wait was worth it for the Nanaimo Timbermen.
They washed away more than a decade of frustration with a 12-11 Western Lacrosse Association victory over the Victoria Shamrocks in the sudden-death second overtime period Wednesday night at The Q Centre to take a 1-0 lead in their best-of-seven semifinal series.
Chase Fraser found Jon Phillips at the side of the net for the winner at 9:51 of double overtime in Nanaimo’s first playoff game in 11 seasons.
The first playoff game in 61 years between the Island rivals was terrific and taut.
The Shamrocks looked to have it won when Derek Lloyd scored on a breakaway with 27 seconds remaining in the first overtime, a 10-minute non-sudden-death period, to give Shamrocks an 11-10 lead.
But the twisting dervish Fraser tied it for Nanaimo with just 1.8 seconds left showing on the clock.
Rob Hellyer and Dane Sorensen traded goals earlier in the first overtime as regulation time ended 9-9.
This was about as good as lacrosse gets with cascading shifts of emotion all night as the third-seed Timbermen upset the second-seed Shamrocks.
Winning nearly every face-off and scooping up almost every loose ball, and unleashing a transitional fast-break torrent off them, the Timbermen bedevilled Victoria all night.
“Nanaimo is motivated and pumped and that was a wake-up call for us,” said Shamrocks head coach Bob Heyes.
“Their transition game was the key for them tonight.”
It often caught Victoria flatfooted in getting its offensive players off and defensive players on the floor.
“We have to be quicker in making those changes off the bench or this series is going to be very difficult to win,” said Heyes.
Jesse King had two goals and four assists for Victoria and Casey Jackson three goals and two assists. Fraser had three goals for the Timbermen and Brody Eastwood and Mason Pynn two goals each.
Both goaltenders were well-exercised as Adam Shute faced 68 shots in goal for Victoria and Charles Claxton 59 for Naniamo.
Heyes expressed disappointment in the crowd size, which looked to be about 1,500, taking away one of Victoria’s greatest advantages in the league.
“It was exciting for the fans that showed up,” he said.
“But we need our fans to get out to the games.”
BOXLA BITS: The second game is Friday at Frank Crane Arena in Nanaimo, third game back at The Q Centre on Sunday evening and fourth game on Tuesday at Frank Crane. … Nanaimo played in the precursor to the WLA from 1951 to 1964, not to 1961, as reported in Tuesday’s edition.