Lesson learned: ’Rocks take aim at Thunder

Thunderstruck by AC/DC has become a staple pre-game musical ritual during warm-up in sporting venues around the world. Maybe they should play it tonight in The Q Centre because it will have literal meaning for the Victoria Shamrocks, but not in a good way. They were truly Thunderstruck this week.

The home-and-home Western Lacrosse Association set against the Langley Thunder had trap written all over it. And sure enough, the Shamrocks fell right into it.

“We didn’t take them [Thunder] lightly,” said Victoria head coach Bob Heyes, of the 6-5 loss Wednesday night at the Langley Events Centre.

It was only the second win of the season for the last-place Thunder in 11 games.

“We met a young team that didn’t have anything to lose and they took it to us in the last five minutes,” said Heyes, whose Shamrocks are 7-4-1.

Victoria led 5-3 with four minutes remaining before three unanswered Langley goals stole a game the Shamrocks looked to have under control.

“It’s not that we took our foot off the pedal. But that said, we did shoot ourselves in the foot. And we wasted an outstanding [50-save] performance from [goaltender] Cody Hagedorn,” said Heyes. “It was a sombre trip home.” Heyes put part of the blame on himself: “I put together combinations that didn’t get the offence flowing.”

The Shamrocks won’t have to wait long in their bid to rectify matters. Tonight’s game at The Q Centre will be the rubber match between Victoria and Langley with the season series tied 1-1.

“I’m hoping lessons are learned,” said Heyes.

“We need to protect and manage the ball better.”

The Shamrocks will have Tyler Hass back in the lineup but scoring star Rhys Duch remains doubtful. Victoria’s 2017 firstround draft pick Evan Messenger, injured until now, scored in his first career Shamrocks game Wednesday. The team is expecting there will be plenty more to come from the former Delta Islanders junior, who makes his home WLA debut tonight for Victoria.