It鈥檚 a matchup of two teams heading in opposite directions when the Victoria Shamrocks venture to Burnaby tonight to take on the Lakers in Game 1 of a best-of-seven Western Lacrosse Association semifinal series.
The Shamrocks, 11-6-1 overall, lost three straight to place fourth entering the post-season, while the Lakers finished the regular campaign with four straight victories for a 12-5-1 log for first overall and home advantage throughout the playoffs.
Burnaby won the seasonal series against Victoria claiming 7-4 home and 14-8 road victories over the last three weeks. The Shamrocks won 11-6 at home on May 26 and are looking to reel in the Lakers.
It will not be an easy task as Burnaby ran off the four straight wins, scoring 49 goals and allowing just 23 over that stretch to leap from fourth to first place.
鈥淩eally, the way I look at it is, this is a new season and as I told the guys after the last game, we just turn the page,鈥� said Shamrocks head coach Bob Heyes. 鈥淲e have lots of experience in the room. Lots of Mann Cup experience and playoff experience and we鈥檙e going to have to rely on that to be successful.鈥�
Victoria, which won the Mann Cup in 2015, will have to adapt to other teams and push its own play to another level, suggested Heyes, whose team now has to battle as the No. 4 seed.
鈥淚t鈥檚 clich茅 and you might be trying to get everyone riled up that we鈥檙e the underdogs, but we鈥檙e definitely not the favoured team now, finishing fourth. Other teams have looked better than us, but on paper we look pretty good,鈥� he said.
鈥淭hose last couple of games were a good wakeup call for us to get focused and I expect us to know that it鈥檚 going to take a ton of effort to win this series, but I鈥檓 fully confident that we鈥檙e going to do it 鈥� for sure,鈥� added Heyes.
The Lakers feature plenty of offence in Eli McLaughlin, who finished second in points (67) and assists (37) and was tied for third in goals with 30. Robert Church was third in points (65) and assists (36) and fifth in goals (29).
Shamrocks captain Corey Small led the league in points (88), goals (38) and assists (50).Victoria鈥檚 Casey Jackson was fifth in points with 60 and fourth in assists with 33.
The Shamrocks will have to deal with a team that is great in transition and will attempt to slow the Lakers down and limit their offensive chances.
Victoria鈥檚 offence has stalled of late, recording plenty of shots but producing just 20 goals in the last three games. Defensively the Shamrocks are giving up way too many goals as well, allowing 33 in the last two outings.
鈥淓veryone knows once playoffs start, the regular season doesn鈥檛 matter,鈥� offered veteran Victoria defender Greg Harnett, who has been through plenty of these battles. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not looking back, we鈥檙e looking forward.
鈥淲e know it鈥檚 going to be a tough series against Burnaby, but we鈥檙e looking forward to it. We know they鈥檙e a good team.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to have to beat the best of the best out west to get to a Mann Cup any way,鈥� added Harnett. 鈥淓very year our goal is to reach that Mann Cup and win it. We don鈥檛 think about where we place. We know we have to win eight games to get there and that鈥檚 all we鈥檙e thinking about.鈥�
The bottom line is, Victoria has to be way better than it has been.
鈥淭here鈥檚 no doubt, they鈥檙e hitting on all cylinders,鈥� Heyes said of the Lakers. 鈥淏ut playoffs is a different thing and it鈥檚 how people react to pressure situations. It鈥檚 going to take a concerted effort from everyone. Everybody is going to have to do their job and step up.鈥�
Twitter.com/tc_vicsports
