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Aaron Bold says he鈥檚 fresh and ready to get started on summer lacrosse season.
The 32-year-old, considered by most observers to be the best goaltender in the sport, made his first appearance with the Victoria Shamrocks Friday night in a sloppy 12-12 overtime Western Lacrosse Association tie with the New Westminster Salmonbellies.
An instrumental part of the Shamrocks鈥� 2015 Mann Cup championship, the Victoria native is back home and appreciating it.
鈥淚鈥檓 here and loving Victoria, just as always,鈥� Bold said before the game. 鈥淓very time I land here, it鈥檚 a breath of fresh air with the ocean and the dense greenery. It鈥檚 good to see family and all the guys who make up the Shamrocks鈥� organization.
鈥淚鈥檓 feeling ready to go, to start the summer and make the shift from the winter. I鈥檓 planning to make big waves and get to where we need to go.鈥�
He didn鈥檛 get much help Friday as the Shamrocks surrendered a whopping 69 shots and Bold gave up 11 goals.
The hosts were up 4-1 at one point in the opening period and led 4-3 after the opening 20 minutes.
New Westminster stormed back with a six-goal second, with one coming against backup goalie Cody Hagedorn.
Bold will miss Sunday鈥檚 game in Nanaimo and then see action the next three weekends, before taking some time off and coming back for the last doubleheader.
This all follows a runner-up finish in the National Lacrosse League as the Saskatchewan Rush鈥檚 attempt to win a third straight title was ended by the Georgia Swarm.
鈥淚 think we really didn鈥檛 play to our potential,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey definitely wanted it, they were the hungrier team. They took advantage of that. There were a few mishaps here and there that they capitalized on that basically dictated them winning the championship cup.
鈥淚 thought we were skilled enough and talented. It just came down to the procedures and work ethic. Maybe you get a little complacent. I don鈥檛 know if [that] was it, as we were expected to win a third [straight] one. But it should light a flame under our butts and push us even harder next season.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 in the past, though, and I鈥檓 here to play for the 鈥橰ocks and keep on going.鈥�
The Shamrocks were loose on the defensive end Friday, especially after the loss of Steve Priolo in one of two second-period fights.
Zach Herreweyers (pronounced Haywire, which described a lot of the night before a near capacity crowd at The Q Centre) led the way with four goals for New West. Mitch Jones had a pair and Brandon Goodwin, Justin Goodwin, Logan Schuss, Jakob Doucet, Austin Jerhoff and Joel McCready had one each.
Casey Jackson, Josh Fagan and Corey Small each had a pair for Victoria, while Matt Hamilton, Greg Harnett, Jake Archdekin, Cody Nass, Tyler Hass and Cody Pickup also tallied.
Hass, another 32-year-old playing in his first game back with Victoria, tied it at 11-11 to force the overtime in a game that featured 129 shots.
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