But the Victoria Shamrocks鈥� finesse game proved simply too much for the Burrards in a 14-8 Victoria win before a near capacity crowd Friday night at The Q Centre.
鈥淲e knew they would come out rough, tough and laying on the body,鈥� said Chris Wardle, who scored four goals for the Shamrocks. 鈥淏ut we kept moving and showing our offence.鈥�
The Shamrocks played the first period in spurts, taking a 2-0 led on the first two shots, allowing Maple Ridge to tie it 2-2, before racing ahead with four consecutive goals to make it 6-2. The final of them in the frame, by Ben McCullough, came on a breakaway into an empty net with 1.6 seconds remaining as Maple Ridge was caught out on a pull-the-goalie move that backfired. It was one of several instances on the night when poor situational goaltending decisions cost the Burrards. You can鈥檛 do that with a team that moves back and forth as well as the Shamrocks.
鈥淓very player on this team has the green light to go up and down the floor,鈥� said Wardle.
Corey Small鈥檚 goal at 2:20 of the second period opened the lead to five goals and the Shamrocks were on their horse and riding into the Colwood sunset, building a 10-4 lead by the end of the middle period.
Besides Wardle鈥檚 four goals for Victoria, Corey Small had two goals and three assists, Jeff Shattler, one of the finest two-way players in the sport, two goals, Cory Conway a goal and six helpers to boost his league assists lead, and Josh Fagan, Tyler Burton, Paul Brebber and McCullough a goal each. But the Shamrocks goal of the night came from league-scoring leader Rhys Duch on a laser from Sooke.
Luke Gillespie scored three times for Maple Ridge, while Mike Mallory added six assists.
鈥淓verybody in this league can pass the ball but both Mallory and Cory Conway can especially distribute the ball well,鈥� said Wardle, who plays in the NLL on the Mammoth with Mallory.
Adam Shute made 28 saves in goal for the Shamrocks and Frank Scigliano 31 for the Burrards.
The game had playoff-race implications with the Shamrocks (9-3) and Burrards (7-5-1) currently occupying two of the four post-season slots in the seven-team WLA. The others in playoff position are the Burnaby Lakers (7-6-1) and New Westminster Salmonbellies (9-3-2).
The Burrards move up-Island to take on the Timbermen (4-9) tonight in Nanaimo. The Shamrocks play next Friday in Burnaby against the Lakers.
