VICTORIA聽 13
MAPLE RIDGE聽 5
Victoria leads series 3-0
The Victoria Shamrocks and Maple Ridge Burrards got back to playing lacrosse on Saturday night at The Q Centre 鈥� minus the mayhem of Game 2.
Rhys Duch鈥檚 two short-handed goals just 12 seconds apart gave the locals an early advantage and the Shamrocks never looked back, defeating the Burrards 13-5 to grab a 3-0 lead in the Western Lacrosse Association best-of-seven semi-final. The series could end today in Game 4, which starts at 5 p.m. in Maple Ridge.
While the usual suspects led the way offensively, it was the unsung players who really shone as Chris Wardle, Tyler Burton, Ryan Dilks, Karsen Leung, Dan MacRae and Mitch Jones were all solid in a pivotal game.
鈥淭he third game is always a dagger and going up 3-0 is what we wanted,鈥� said Burton who has been a beast on defence and on faceoffs. 鈥淒ilksy had a hell of a game. He is an incredible defenceman and the amount of turnovers that he gets every game is ridiculous.
鈥淛onesy had a hell of a game. Wardle was huge picking up loosies [loose balls] and scoring a big goal. Karsen had a great game. Everyone stepped up and I don鈥檛 think there was one guy who didn鈥檛 do their job.鈥�
And Steve Priolo was there to control anything that got out of hand physically, called upon in a couple of skirmishes.
鈥淭hey tried the rough stuff the game before and it turned in our favour, but playing lacrosse turned in our favour, too,鈥� said Burton, who isn鈥檛 satisfied with where the team is quite yet. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 be looking too much forward here. We just have to take this one game at a time.鈥�
Jesse King opened the scoring just 1:25 into the game, but it remained that way until Duch buried the two short-handed goals by 12:51 of the first. Dan Dawson, just as a power-play ended, made it a 4-0 first-period lead for the Shamrocks, who also led 12-3 after two periods.
Victoria has now outscored Maple Ridge 33-14 since the end of the first period of Game 1, much to the delight of head coach Bob Heyes, who particularly enjoyed Wardle鈥檚 effort.
Wardle was reinserted as the Shamrocks were without Jon Harnett and Daryl Veltman, both suspended one game each.
Greg Harnett was also out of the lineup because of a hit he took to the head in the previous affair.
鈥淥ur player of the game in the dressing room was Chris Wardle. One of the battles I have this year is, it鈥檚 not your top five players that win it for you,鈥� Heyes said, 鈥渋t鈥檚 your bottom five.
鈥淲hen injuries and suspensions come up, you have to put them in and when you do, we don鈥檛 miss a beat. That builds a ton of confidence within the team as well.鈥�
Maple Ridge had Nick Stone and Colton Porter suspended for the game and Riley Loewen was also absent.
Offensively, Duch and Scott Ranger had two goals and two assists each and Corey Small and King had a goal and three helpers each. Leung and Dawson had two goals apiece while Jones had a goal and two helpers.
Gritty Ben McCullough also scored.
Ben McIntosh, with a pair, Tom Johnson and Mike Mallory scored for the Burrards.
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