There is a new Western Lacrosse Association champion.
The Maple Ridge Burrards saw to that on Friday, claiming the first win by a home side in the championship series by a tight 10-9 count at Planet Ice that eliminated the three-time defending-champion Victoria Shamrocks in six games.
鈥淲e鈥檝e done it many different ways to get there. This was really rewarding in that we didn鈥檛 have the big-name roster, but we were still there in a much more competitive league,鈥� Shamrocks head coach Bob Heyes said of the incredible run.
鈥淎ll the other teams got stronger and we got a lot out of our guys. I give a lot of credit to my coaches. They maxed out just about every guy on this team in getting that effort.鈥�
The Burrards last won the championship 26 years ago when the franchise was based out of Vancouver and featured John Tavares in his rookie senior A season. The team had moved to Surrey for the 1994 and 1995 campaigns before shuffling to Maple Ridge, where it had never claimed a title.
In that 1990 championship campaign, the Vancouver Burrards were swept 4-0 by the Brooklin Redmen in the Mann Cup. This year they will face either Peterborough or Six Nations, who play Game 7 tonight.
Victoria was trying to become the first team to win four straight league crowns since the Shamrocks themselves won five straight from 2002-06.
But the Green and White lost all three home games and never could pull ahead in the series. In the end, the seven-game semifinal victory over the Burnaby Lakers took a lot out of the Shamrocks.
鈥淭he series was full of ups and downs with emotions. You lose four guys in three nights to knee injuries, including Jesse King. That鈥檚 a lot and it鈥檚 also mentally tough,鈥� added Heyes, who was without Jeff Shattler on Friday as he was injured in Game 5. 鈥淲ithout a Shattler, without a King, without all those guys, I couldn鈥檛 be prouder of what these guys did.鈥�
Frankie Scigliano was named the most valuable player as he stopped 37 shots in the Game 6 win and thwarted 240 in total over the series for an average of 40 a night. Adam Shute suffered the loss between the pipes for the Shamrocks.
Mike Mallory was credited with three goals for the Burrards, while Riley Loewen and Matt Symes added two each. Dan Taylor, Owen Barker and Ben McIntosh had the others.
Corey Small, Cory Conway and Paul Brebber had two apiece for the Shamrocks, while Rhys Duch had a goal and four helpers. Chris Wardle and Steve Higgs also scored for Victoria, which had finished the regular season 14-4.
