The Victoria Shamrocks have the New Westminster Salmonbellies on the ropes and are prepared to deliver the final blow, but they realize there is still plenty of fight left in the opponent.
Up 3-0 in the best-of-seven Western Lacrosse Association championship series, the Shamrocks can put away their third straight title tonight at 7:45 at Queen鈥檚 Park Arena. They could then rest up for the Mann Cup, which would begin in Victoria on Sept. 4.
鈥淚t would give us rest and more time to prepare for the next stage, but our focus is on Friday,鈥� said Karsen Leung, who had a fabulous game in Wednesday鈥檚 15-9 victory at The Q Centre.
鈥淲e need to close them out. They鈥檙e going to come out hard. They鈥檙e not just going to roll over so we鈥檙e going to have to play a solid 60 minutes. We鈥檙e going to do everything we can to finish them, but they鈥檙e a young talented team.
鈥淭hey want this just as badly as we do. We鈥檙e going to show them our will and, hopefully, they have some doubt in their minds. Being down 3-0 has to be tough. We have the dagger there and now it鈥檚 just finishing.鈥�
Which would delight Shamrocks head coach Bob Heyes, who could then focus on who the next opponent would be, either the two-time Mann Cup champion Six Nations Chiefs or the Peterborough Lakers.
He, too, is not looking beyond tonight, however.
鈥淕ame 3 was about seizing the moment and seizing the opportunity to put a real stranglehold on the series,鈥� Heyes said. 鈥淲e had guys step into the lineup, like Ethan Garland because Rory [Smith] couldn鈥檛 go, so the depth proved itself and the guys gutted it out.
鈥淭he first 10 minutes [in Game 4] will be tell-tale on what they鈥檙e going to do. I told the guys at the end of the second period [Wednesday] that they鈥檙e a desperate team. They are going to cling to whatever momentum they can gain and they got some. But we got some key goals.鈥�
New West made a goaltending change to start the third period Wednesday and it worked briefly as the Salmonbellies scored twice in the first 2:15 to cut it to a 9-7 Shamrocks lead. A key goal by Dan MacRae (running the full length of the floor) followed by Daryl Veltman鈥檚 third of four on the night took momentum back.
鈥淭hat experience flows to the top,鈥� said Heyes. 鈥淭hese last three years we鈥檝e been through a lot.
鈥淚t was very balanced [scoring]. The offence got some key goals, the transition got theirs and our defence turned in some physical work.鈥�
Smith may be back in the lineup tonight. Jesse King鈥檚 status is day-to-day.
鈥淚t just shows our depth. We have threats all over the floor,鈥� said Leung, who scored twice including a beauty in which he scooped up a loose ball in a diving motion and dunked it into the net while horizontal. 鈥淚f the offence is stagnant, we have other guys who can step up and take the ball to the net.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 exactly what we鈥檙e doing,鈥� he said of the scoring balance.
CLOVER POINTS: The last team to win three straight WLA championships were the Salmonbellies from 2008-10. Prior to that, the Shamrocks won five consecutive from 2002-06 and eight of nine dating back to 1998.
