If Friday night was an indication of what鈥檚 to come for Cory Conway, then he and the Victoria Shamrocks are in a very good place.
The veteran Shamrocks right-hander established several league records, starting with what is believed to be a new Western Lacrosse Association mark for points in a game with 17. Conway had two goals and 15 assists in Victoria鈥檚 18-6 season-opening win over the Nanaimo Timbermen.
The league record book has not been updated since 2013, but, with the remarkable performance, Conway surpassed Jim Douglas鈥檚 mark of 16 points that dated back to June 1 of either 1939 or 1941, when he tallied 12 goals and four assists. There is a discrepancy in the year as the book also showed Douglas scored 12 goals on the same day in 1941.
Either way, it was a mark set three-quarters of a century ago, during the Second World War.
Conway was simply all-world and also cracked records set by Brian Evans on May 6, 1978, of 12 assists in a game and seven in a period. With his opening 20 minutes (one goal and 10 assists), Conway also established a new mark for points in one period, as the Shamrocks led 11-2.
Also erased was the record of eight points in one period, established by legendary players Paul Gait (1996) and Wayne Goss (1977 and 1971).
Conway had the entire press box at The Q Centre scrambling to track down records as the WLA no longer provides the book. He and the team knew early on he was on to something good.
The Brentwood Bay product whipped a beautiful behind-the-back pass to Corey Small, who fired it home with an equally impressive back-hander for goal two of the night, and the show was on.
In fact, Conway was in on the first 16 Shamrocks鈥� scores as they built up a 16-2 lead by 18:09 of the second period, when he tied the record for points in a game. The record run was finally announced in the third period and Conway broke the mark with just 3:25 to go on an assist on Rhys Duch鈥檚 goal.
鈥淚t was quite impressive. It was amazing to be part of that whole game. It was great to see the offence clicking and to see an amazing individual performance like Cory鈥檚 was quite special,鈥� said Duch, who had three goals and nine assists.
鈥淚 think it was like point seven or eight in a row in the first period and we were like: 鈥楾his has got to be some kind of record.鈥� Then, after the second period, when they told us we were close, we were trying to get him the point.鈥�
It eventually came and he received a standing ovation.
鈥淚鈥檝e got to admit, I was excited, and the guys were, too, because they were all trying to find me,鈥� said Conway. 鈥淏ut we were buying into the process and sticking to what worked in the first two periods. Rhys Duch was able to find a hole in the goalie once again and, as they say, the rest is history.
鈥淭he most special part was doing it in front of friends and family,鈥� Conway added. 鈥淚 had a lot of people come out and support me today and I always have in this city. It鈥檚 something I don鈥檛 take for granted and I really do appreciate it.鈥�
It was an incredible evening for Conway. He played like he had something to prove to the National Lacrosse League, as every team in that pro league left him off their roster this winter.
鈥淎nytime you don鈥檛 get invited to an NLL training camp is obviously disappointing, not only for myself, but the people who believe in me and put a lot of trust in me,鈥� admitted Conway. 鈥淚 take this game quite seriously and put a lot of energy into it and people close to me have made a lot of sacrifices to put me in these positions.
鈥淯ltimately, I was disappointed not playing in that league, but it鈥檚 not the end of the world. We鈥檙e here to have a great summer and move on accordingly,鈥� he said.
Conway and Co. made a statement early with the lop-sided thrashing as they begin chase of a fourth-straight WLA crown.
Small finished with seven goals and four assists and was still six points back of Conway. Duch was five back.
鈥淲e weren鈥檛 even close,鈥� Duch said with a laugh.
鈥淓very time the ball was in his stick the ball was going in and someone was scoring. But, you know what, Cory Conway has worked his butt off to get in shape. He has something to prove and that was pretty phenomenal,鈥� head coach Bob Heyes said.
鈥淗e is one of the premier players in the game, and he鈥檚 set his mind to prove that this year.鈥�
Lost in all the Conway celebration was a solid showing by Shamrocks goalie Cody Hagedorn, who was run over just 1:40 in by Cole Kryworuchka before ultimately making 36 saves for the win.
The two teams meet again next Saturday in Nanaimo, after the Shamrocks play host to New Westminster on Friday.
