The Victoria Junior Shamrocks are looking for the Minto Cup national championship appearance trifecta this season. They hope to take the final step after back-to-back appearances in the Canadian Junior A lacrosse championship tournament saw the Baby Rocks fall short of their dream of hoisting the Minto Cup.
The last Minto Cup championship club from the Island remains the 1988 Esquimalt Legion team, led by the legendary twins Paul and Gary Gait en route to them revolutionizing the game during their NCAA careers at Syracuse University and pro lacrosse.
The Junior Shamrocks played in the 2019 and 2022 Minto Cup national championships. The 2020 and 2021 national tournaments were not held due to the pandemic.
The quest begins anew as the Junior Shamrocks open the 2023 sa国际传媒 Junior A Lacrosse League season against the Langley Thunder today at 3:30 p.m. at Juan de Fuca Arena.
The match-up is a reprise of last year’s league playoff final, won 4-2 in games by Victoria, which went on to represent sa国际传媒 in the 2022 Minto Cup tournament at the CAA Centre in Brampton, Ont.
The Junior Shamrocks were built to peak last year and have been hit hard by graduation, but several veterans return, including Noah Manning, Kyle Pepper, Brodie Wade, Aidan Solomon, Cameron Lumb, Matt Atkinson, Dylan Johannes, Davis McCulley and goaltenders Adam Bland and Daniel Ramage.
Enough that the Junior Shamrocks should be in the championship mix again despite the expected resurgence of the Coquitlam Junior Adanacs, the dominant team before the Junior Shamrocks’ recent rise.
“We will be a younger and different team, but not less skilled,” said Victoria head coach Terry Dennett.
“The graduating players created a great culture to follow. That culture is infectious. You could see it during camp.”
The Nanaimo Junior Timbermen emerged as a factor last season at 10-4 but have also been hit heavily by graduation, including departed goaltending star Zach Geddes.
The key returnee is defensive standout Levi Verch, the Claremont Secondary lacrosse academy graduate, St. Joseph’s NCAA sophomore and silver medallist with sa国际传媒 at the 2022 World Under-21 Lacrosse Championship in Limerick, Ireland.
The Junior T-Men open in Langley on Sunday. The home opener is the Island derby against the Junior Shamrocks on Wednesday night at the Nanaimo Ice Centre.
The eight-team league includes the Junior Shamrocks, Junior Timbermen, Junior Thunder, Junior Adanacs, Burnaby Junior Lakers, Delta Islanders, New Westminster Junior Salmonbellies and Port Coquitlam Saints.
Junior A players on teams in the professional National Lacrosse League, and those playing field lacrosse in the U.S. collegiate NCAA, will return to the BCJALL once those seasons conclude. That includes Junior ’Rocks Solomon, a Royal Bay Secondary lacrosse academy graduate out of NCAA University of Indianapolis and a defender with the NLL Vancouver Warriors, goaltender Bland with the NLL Calgary Roughnecks and defenceman Lumb with the San Diego Seals. Manning, who won silver with sa国际传媒 at the world U-21 championship in Ireland, is with the University of Denver.
