Ball possession superiority usually means victory in any sport.
In sports with faceoffs such as lacrosse and hockey, if you can get possession off the draw, all the better.
That has made the Victoria Shamrocks鈥� draw-magician Tyler Burton the stealth hero of the Island derby Western Lacrosse Association semifinal series between the Shamrocks and Nanaimo Timbermen.
鈥淸Burton] won 17 of 19 draws in Game 1 and I don鈥檛 think he lost a draw in Game 2,鈥� said Shamrocks head coach Bob Heyes.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 been a huge factor in the series.鈥�
The NCAA Mercyhurst-grad Burton is a London, Ont., native and Shamrocks veteran who won the NLL championship in the spring with the Calgary Roughnecks.
The WLA top-seed Shamrocks lead the best-of-seven series 2-0 over the fourth-seed T-Men heading into Game 3 tonight at The Q Centre. The fourth game is Monday night at Frank Crane Arena in the Harbour City.
鈥淲e have a chance to really get in the driver鈥檚 seat and we don鈥檛 want to lose that momentum,鈥� said Heyes.
鈥淣anaimo is a desperate team now and will probably gamble more. We want to batten down the hatches and not let them creep back in.鈥�
The third-seed New Westminster Salmonbellies led the second-seed Maple Ridge Burrards 1-0 in the other semifinal series heading into Game 2 on Friday night.
BOXLA BITS: The sa国际传媒 Junior A League best-of-three final series begins tonight in Coquitlam with the Victoria Junior Shamrocks visiting the Junior Adanacs. The second game is Sunday at 3 p.m. in The Q Centre. Game 3, if necessary, will be next Friday in Coquitlam.
The series is largely meaningless since both teams have already advanced to the Minto Cup national championship tournament, the Junior Shamrocks for the first time since 2008, because of their playoff semifinal victories.
sa国际传媒 gets two berths because the province is hosting the tournament this month at the Langley Events Centre. The Junior Shamrocks and Junior Adanacs will be joined by the winners of the Prairie and Ontario junior leagues.
