Standing between the Victoria Junior Shamrocks and an appearance at the Minto Cup national Junior A lacrosse championship are the Coquitlam Junior Adanacs. Starting at 3 p.m. on Saturday in Coquitlam, the Shamrocks will make a bid to dispatch the four-time defending sa国际传媒 Junior A Lacrosse League champs, when the teams begin their best-of-five semifinal playoff series.
Langley and New Westminster are tangling in the other semi, with the winners of both series advancing to the Minto Cup tournament, starting Aug. 17 in New Westminster.
鈥淲e have to play three intense periods,鈥� Shamrocks GM Rod Wood said, concerned about lapses in focus. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 let them back in.鈥�
Coquitlam had a bye through the quarter-final round, while Victoria swept the Delta Islanders in two straight victories. In both games, however, the Shamrocks got a decent lead, then lost a bit of focus. If that happens in Coquitlam, the Adanacs will pounce.
鈥淲e have to keep playing as a team, and not get into a one-dimensional game as a player,鈥� senior Shamrock Devon Casey said.
The Adanacs bulked up their roster at the trade deadline, and their acquisitions included two of Port Coquitlam鈥檚 top scorers in Matt Delmonico and Tyler Pace, as well as Nanaimo starting goaltender Peter Dubenski. The Shamrocks were happy with their regular roster, but did add Burnaby鈥檚 face-off specialist and leading scorer Justin Appels.
鈥淗e鈥檚 definitely given us another look in the face off circles,鈥� Wood said. 鈥淗e has a slightly different style than [incumbent] Conrad Chapman, and they鈥檝e really complimented each other.鈥�
Coquitlam is the type of team that can score from all positions, including the defence on fast breaks. Without being bogged down with penalties, the Shamrocks have plenty of their own offensive weapons for the Adanacs to worry about, such as Jesse King, who led Victoria with five goals and eight assists in the first round.
The Shamrocks had penalty problems earlier in the season, but in the two playoff games against Delta, Victoria spent a total of just 16 minutes in the box, and veteran Dane Schoor said the 鈥楧鈥� was terrific against the Islanders.
鈥淥ur defence played really strong. Probably some of the best defence we鈥檝e had most of the year,鈥� Schoor said. 鈥淓veryone was helping each other out.鈥�
It鈥檚 the last kick at the can for Casey and Schoor. The Delta series was a good momentum builder, and now that the playoff jitters have calmed down, the pair are hoping the team can keep rolling against Coquitlam.
鈥淚f the defence plays their game, and the offence plays their game, we should have a good shot,鈥滳asey said.
Game 2 is scheduled for Sunday night at 5 p.m. at Bear Mountain Arena.
IN THE POCKET: The Intermediate A Shamrocks play the first game of their playoffs on Saturday against the New Westminster Salmonbellies. Game time is 1 p.m., at Bear Mountain Arena. The Shamrocks finished the regular season in third place, at 14-4-0, while New West (9-9-0) was sixth.
