’Rocks look to keep it rolling on the road
Strong starts are nothing new for the Victoria Shamrocks.
It was just last season that the local Western Lacrosse Association club got out of the gates with a 3-0 beginning, before losing two straight. In 2014 the team was actually 8-0-2 before suffering its first setback.
Not that head coach Bob Heyes reads anything into those numbers.
His Shamrocks are 4-0 this 2017 campaign heading into Coquitlam to face the Adanacs tonight before spending the night on the mainland to tackle the defending league champion Maple Ridge Burrards on Sunday.
“Every year is different. I think in 2015 we were 0-2 to start, losing both to Nanaimo,” said Heyes, not putting any stock into the start, outside of putting away eight points in the standings.
“I think how we’ve gone about it this year is what is appealing. We haven’t had that full, strong lineup every night with Duchy [Rhys Duch] not around every night. We’ve manufactured different ways to win. We had the young kids the first game; and Smallsy [Corey Small] took over in Game 2.”
In their third outing, by far the best challenge, Victoria’s transition game and the goaltending of Cody Hagedorn won it 5-4 in New Westminster.
“Again, last week, was kind of the young kids and we had everyone contributing. Smallsy is always going to get his points. Then to have [Matt] Hamilton and [Cole] Pickup throw points in there shows there’s depth everywhere,” said Heyes.
Sure, they’ve benefited from weaker Coquitlam and Langley lineups, but come Sunday they will face a tough Burrards roster. Maple Ridge toppled the Shamrocks in last year’s league final to move on as the WLA rep at the Mann Cup.
“We can’t look past Coquitlam, but Maple Ridge is circled,” added Heyes. “The rivalry is there, it’s probably the best rivalry in the league right now. It’s two teams that hate each other and always want something to prove every night.”
The Burrards — who were 2-1 prior to Friday’s play — are a big punishing team, but the Shamrocks added size in Steve Priolo and Mike Triolo, who have both performed wonderfully so far.
Victoria leads the league in a number of categories, besides wins and losses. The Shamrocks are plus-15 in goal scoring, tallying 40 times while allowing just 25 and the power play is clicking at 43.8 per cent. Small also had a comfortable lead in the points and assists department with 26 and 17, respectively. He was kept goalless in New Westminster.
“That was a true test for us,” Heyes said of that tight win. “We had to use goaltending and defence as the key. Our offence was not there that night. Without Duchy there, they just had to concentrate on the left-handers and shut down Smallsy. That’s when we have to get production from the back end and we did.”
Sheldon Burns had two goals in that defensive win over the Salmonbellies.
Duch, who missed the last two games, will likely get back to play at some point this weekend and Casey Jackson should also return after missing the last three after scoring two goals in Game 1.