VICTORIA 14
PETERBOROUGH 8
Victoria leads series 2-1
听
The big boys came to play, in every aspect of the game.
After a disappointing loss in Game 2 of the Mann Cup championship, Victoria Shamrocks head coach Bob Heyes was not happy with the performance of his upper-echelon players.
Heyes didn鈥檛 have any complaints on Monday as Corey Small recorded five goals and three assists to pace the Shamrocks to a lopsided 14-8 win over the Peterborough Lakers to grab a 2-1 best-of-seven series lead in the national lacrosse championship.
Rhys Duch 鈥� who along with his fianc茅e, Jenna, welcomed son Finnley Daniel Duch into the world early Sunday 鈥� added three goals and two helpers in a much better performance from top to bottom and from the goaltending out before 2,818 fans at The Q Centre.
鈥淲e came out and played our game, plain and simple,鈥� said Heyes, whose Shamrocks dictated play most of the night. 鈥淲e came with the concerted effort that this entire team was going to play through everything. Take the hits and take everything that has to be taken to win this war and the guys were phenomenal tonight.鈥�
Game 4 is set for 7 p.m. tonight and Game 5 is Wednesday at the same time.
鈥淰ino [Lakers goalie Matt Vinc] played pretty phenomenal the first two games,鈥� said Small. 鈥淲e just had to be patient and we know that kind of play isn鈥檛 sustainable through a seven-game series. Today we were hitting our shots and we stuck to the process that we put in place all season. We knew if we buy in and stick to it, eventually it will pay off and tonight it did.鈥�
In a big way, as the Shamrocks broke open a 3-2 lead after one period to take a 10-4 advantage after two.
On this night, the producers produced as Dan Dawson had a goal and four assists, while Jesse King, Scott Ranger and Daryl Veltman all had a goal and three assists. Karsen Leung and Mitch Jones (empty net) also scored.
The stubborn Shamrocks defence showed up as well, along with goaltender Aaron Bold, who made 31 saves. Vinc was chased out of the Lakers鈥� net in the third period after allowing 12 goals on 36 shots. Evan Kirk mopped up with seven saves.
Holden Cattoni, playing in his first Mann Cup game, and Mark Steenhuis each had a pair for the Lakers while Chad Culp, Brad Self, Cory Vitarelli and Shawn Evans added one each.
鈥淲e know we need to score more than seven goals to beat that team. I think all-around everyone responded,鈥� said Duch, who was still excited about welcoming his son.
鈥淚 was still moping around after Game 2 a bit in the locker room [Saturday], didn鈥檛 check my phone very quickly. When I finally got around to it I had a bunch of text messages saying, 鈥業鈥檓 going to the hospital, you better get there quick.鈥� I had to battle the traffic in the parking lot because of our huge crowds,鈥� he added. 鈥淏ut I got there 15 minutes after she did and got to experience the whole thing. It was amazing. Mom and baby are healthy and we鈥檙e excited about starting a family.鈥�
Twitter/tc_vicsports
