Like any junior A lacrosse program worth its weight in salt, the Victoria Shamrocks will be minus 10 talented players to start the season as they continue on with their collegiate field lacrosse careers south of the border.
Victoria ventures to Nanaimo tonight at 7 to face the Jr. Timbermen to launch the sa国际传媒 Jr. A Lacrosse League season. The Shamrocks then play host to the Delta Islanders on Saturday at 5 p.m. at The Q Centre in their home opener.
Waiting for the cavalry to arrive, coach Walt Christiansen鈥檚 troops will attempt to ride herd with what they have, like many other of the top-notch organizations in the league.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a reality of what happens when you have a lot of talented kids, a lot of them go away to school,鈥� said Christiansen. 鈥淚 try not to worry about things I can鈥檛 control. In a perfect world, we would love to have them all here and I鈥檇 love to be practising with them the last month.
鈥淏ut these kids will be coming in, two and three or four at a time for the next three weeks. The first two games are the toughest because we only have about 14 kids of our own right now,鈥� he added. 鈥淭he 14 kids we have, I鈥檓 really impressed with. They鈥檝e been working very hard and there鈥檚 a lot of talent in those 14, so we鈥檙e definitely not going to be a slouch.
鈥淵es, we are missing key players, but we鈥檙e not missing everybody. A lot of the stronger teams, like the Coquitlams, New Wests and Deltas are all in the same boat.鈥�
Among the Jr. Shamrocks away are Marshall King and David Bryne, who are attending Drexel; Nick Preston is at Providence; Eddie Smith, Daniel Smith and Zac Christiansen compete at Robert Morris; Braylon Lumb and Brock Thompson-Marshall are at District of Columbia; and Dallas Wade and Nate Wade are members of Tusculum鈥檚 program in Tennessee.
Veterans who are currently here are Matt Hamilton and Cole Pickup.
鈥淚 think we鈥檙e going to surprise some people. We have a very young team with the majority being first 鈥� or second-year players so one of the problems for a young team is you have a young team,鈥� said coach Christiansen. 鈥淪ometimes you have to wait and see how they adjust to the junior game. Some will flourish and some may not like it.鈥�
The team will also have about 10 graduates from last year鈥檚 provincial championship Intermediate team. What it doesn鈥檛 have is a lot of Jr. A goaltending experience.
鈥淭he goaltending is one area where we鈥檙e unproven. That鈥檚 our unknown,鈥� admitted Christiansen. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e good goalies with solid Junior B or minor careers, but none have started as Junior A goalies.鈥�
The trio includes Trace Birley, Mitchell Gurney and Liam Reid, with the latter being the backup at junior last season.
Hamilton, for one, is ready to go.
鈥淗onestly, I think we have a talented group. There鈥檚 definitely a lot of other good teams in the league, but we have the highest expectations,鈥� said the 21-year-old, who did play at Providence College last season, but decided it wasn鈥檛 the right fit for him and now works with Compass Electric.
鈥淲e want to try and go all the way this year and it looks promising. We need to try and get as many wins as we can without the guys here right now and hopefully, as they come back, it will make us stronger.鈥�
FAST BREAKS: The expansion Victoria Wolves open their West Coast Senior Lacrosse Association season tonight at 8 on the road against the Valley Rebels. Then the Wolves face the Royal City Capitals at Queen鈥檚 Park Arena on Saturday at 3 p.m. to begin Senior B play.
