The Victoria Shamrocks have had a bit of the Cardiac Kids routine to them this Western Lacrosse Association season with two wins at the death against the Coquitlam Adanacs. But a more fitting nickname might be the Bounce Back Kids. The Shamrocks (10-4) have answered all four of their losses this season with a victory in the next game.
That will be the goal again tonight, against the Lakers in Burnaby (4-11), following Saturday night’s 10-8 loss to the Timbermen in Nanaimo in the Island derby.
“This is a young group but a resilient group,” said Shamrocks veteran forward Rhys Duch.
“Any loss gives them a fire in the belly for down the road.”
As the leading veterans of a youthful but promising squad, Duch and Jesse King have been given much leeway to mentor the younger members of the forward corps
“[Head coach Mike Simpson] has put a lot of trust in us to pass on our knowledge to the younger guys,” said Duch, who led the Calgary Roughnecks to the pro National Lacrosse League championship in 2019 and was most recently in the NLL with the Halifax Thunderbirds.
Duch, a 35-year-old who has 914 points in 12 seasons with the Shamrocks, likes what he sees in the upcoming generation in green.
“Every lacrosse player has a pure passion to win. What has really stood out to me is how this group has it in abundance. I have been super impressed by that,” said Duch.
That is from the crease out.
“With [regular goaltender] Pete Dubenski injured, our young goalkeepers [Colin Jeffrey and Ryan Atkinson] have been getting the job done,” said Duch, a three-time WLA all-star and 2016 league MVP.
The Shamrocks head into Burnaby tonight after hammering the Lakers 23-5 and 21-6 in their previous two meetings, both at The Q Centre. But a team that lost its last game, as the Shamrocks did Saturday in Nanaimo, can’t afford to look past anybody. That’s not what Bounce Back Kids do.
“Burnaby didn’t have its full roster the previous two games we met them,” warned Duch.
“We are now going to see their full roster, and now we are travelling and they are home, and it’s going to be a different game. You have to seize the opportunity every game to stay sharp.”
Meanwhile, the Timbermen moved to 12-6 atop the table with a 12-6 victory over the bottom-dwelling Maple Ridge Burrards (1-14) on Sunday at Cam Neely Arena in Maple Ridge.
The Shamrocks, however, have four games in hand on their Island rivals. Victoria returns to The Q Centre to meet the Langley Thunder (8-6) on Friday night.
JUNIOR ROCKS: The Victoria Junior Shamrocks will be playing to keep their season alive tonight when they host the Coquitlam Junior Adanacs in Game 5 of their sa国际传媒 Junior A Lacrosse League semifinal series. After the Junior Shamrocks won the first two games of the series, the Adanacs have won the last two, including a 15-12 victory on Sunday in Coquitlam. Tonight’s deciding game goes at 5 p.m. at The Q Centre. The winner advances to the league championship series against the Langley Junior Thunder.
