The underdogs showed some teeth, as the Victoria Shamrocks barely avoided being bitten by the Nanaimo Timbermen on Wednesday night, escaping Frank Crane Arena with a 9-8 victory.
With the win, the Shamrocks took over first place in the Western Lacrosse Association, at 5-1, and the T-Men fell to 1-4, in a game that defied the gap in the standings.
鈥淚t was a bit ugly, but we found a way to win, so that was a good character win for the team,鈥� Shamrocks coach Bob Heyes said. 鈥淲e need to realize that and compete.鈥�
He said the talent-laden Shamrocks, who lost 13-10 in Maple Ridge on Sunday, go into every game with a target on their backs.
鈥淭eams are pushing us, and that makes us better.鈥�
Victoria captain Scott Ranger racked up four goals, including the winner, in his first visit back to Frank Crane, after he and Cory Conway were traded from Nanaimo to Victoria in the off-season. Ranger got a big hand from the Nanaimo faithful when he was introduced but a pretty bruising physical welcome from his former teammates.
鈥淲e鈥檙e kind of in the rebuilding stage, but we鈥檙e definitely not giving up,鈥� said first-year Timbermen coach Kaleb Toth, who moved behind the bench this season, after a 13-year pro career in the National Lacrosse League and summer lacrosse in the WLA, with Victoria and Nanaimo.
鈥淚 miss playing, but I like staying involved,鈥� said Toth, who鈥檚 working on keeping things simple for his mostly inexperienced squad. 鈥淲e want to make sure the guys don鈥檛 overwhelm themselves.鈥�
Toth鈥檚 strategy was to try to frustrate the Shamrocks and take advantage of any mistakes, and his game plan looked solid in the first period. Nanaimo went to the break up 3-2, while the Shamrocks were unable to create a rhythm in the midst of the aggressive T-Men defence.
Ranger鈥檚 two straight power-play goals turned the momentum in the second period, along with putting Victoria up 5-3. The stretch in the score might quickly have been more than 5-4 by the end of the period, but Nanaimo goalie Zach Boychuk made several outstanding saves. At the same time, the Victoria offence has some gelling to do.
鈥淚 think our offence is still striving for some chemistry,鈥� Heyes said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 coming.鈥�
In the Shamrocks net, Josh Phillips, working on 27 seconds of game experience so far this season, did a great job in his first start, especially in a tight, tense third period.
Ryan Keith picked up a hat trick for the Timbermen, who also had goals from Cody Bremner, with two, Graham Palmer, Jake Emms and Cayle Ratcliff. Also scoring for Victoria were Nolan Heavenor, with a pair, Rhys Duch, Jeff Shattler, and Cory Conway.
The Shamrocks will play their fourth game in eight days when they travel to Burnaby on Friday in a 7 p.m. start, while Nanaimo is home to Burnaby on Sunday.
