With the hopes of a National Lacrosse League championship dashed, Corey Small now sets his sights on a Western Lacrosse Association title and possibly a crack at the Mann Cup.
It鈥檚 been a while since the Victoria Shamrocks and Edmonton Rush sharpshooter experienced the thrill of a league championship, and he鈥檚 anxious to begin the 2013 WLA campaign in the city he now calls home, Victoria.
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 even realize how hard they are to win,鈥� said Small, who claimed a Major League Lacrosse crown back in 2009 with the Toronto Nationals. 鈥淭hat might be the only championship I won.
鈥淵ou have to go back to when we were kids,鈥� added Small, who led his Holy Cross Secondary School in St. Catharines, Ont., to a provincial title. 鈥淭hey are so hard to come across.
鈥淓very year it seems like there鈥檚 a new team or a surprise team. Everyone is so competitive. No team runs away with it any year.鈥�
Small, who has led Victoria in scoring the last two years, likes what he sees in the construction of the 2013 Shamrocks, who have added Scott Ranger, Cory Conway, Matt Vinc, Nolan Heavenor and Mitch Jones to the mix, with others yet to come.
鈥淲e definitely have a lot of talented guys coming in, like Ranger, who has led the league in scoring the last two years, and Cory Conway, who played with [me] in Edmonton,鈥� Small said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 an unreal playmaker, who has led the [WLA] in assists the last few years. He鈥檚 another huge addition for us on offence.鈥�
But the team still needs to mesh, and that could take a little time as players begin to return to town from the NLL.
鈥淥ne of the challenges is to come together. It takes time to adjust, but fortunately for myself and Cory, we have played together, and we have a few coming from Calgary who have played together the last three or four years,鈥� said Small, who will be looked to for leadership as well as scoring.
鈥淎ll around, I think we鈥檙e more of a mature team and experienced team, and that should help with us working well together, quicker.
鈥淥bviously, the game is not won on paper. We have to go out and execute and play well to win to get to the Mann Cup, and that鈥檚 going to be the focus,鈥� added Small, who had 28 goals and 36 assists in 16 games for the Rush, his highest goal total in four years in the NLL.
He also tallied three goals and three assists in last weekend鈥檚 disappointing 12-11 playoff loss to the Washington Stealth.
鈥淚t was a good year for the Rush, as far as the regular season was concerned, but unfortunately not as good as last year in the playoffs,鈥� said Small, who helped lead the Rush to the 2012 NLL final.
The Shamrocks continue training camp until their home and league opener on Friday, May 17, against the Coquitlam Adanacs.
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