The Victoria Shamrocks were expecting a close game and they got one, out-lasting the Burnaby Lakers 9-6 on Tuesday night to draw first blood in the 2015 Western Lacrosse Association playoffs.
Victoria trailed 6-5 as Eli McLaughlin and Josh Byrne (on a behind the back goal) tallied in the first 3:40 of the third period to give the visitors their first lead of the game and temporarily silence the crowd of about 1,700.
Duch tied it at 6-6 on a 4-on-3 power play right at the 10:00 mark. Cory Conway restored the lead for the Shamrocks at 12:56 before Jesse King and Duch added some late insurance.
鈥淭hey definitely pushed. That鈥檚 a very good team. They pushed back well and we answered it, which was great,鈥� said Shamrocks head coach Bob Heyes. 鈥淭he offence was very opportunistic. Cory Conway got a big goal for us and Duch did, too.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a tough game. It鈥檚 not going to be easy. That鈥檚 all a part of playing that physical game, as well. We didn鈥檛 expect them to be as physical, but now we鈥檙e ready for Game 2.鈥�
Duch had a pair in the first period on assists from Corey Small and Doug Langlois had a breakaway goal on a long pass from goalie Adam Shute as the hosts opened up a 3-0 lead. Robert Church finally burst the bubble for Burnaby with 43.4 seconds to go in the opening frame.
It was a nasty opening 20 minutes and Burnaby鈥檚 Jason Jones was ejected midway through for hitting Duch in the change box as he sent the Shamrocks鈥� top scorer into the visiting players鈥� box.
Burnaby鈥檚 Scott Rouse then took a run at Ian McShane (who was injured and left the game), which drew a minor, but captains Small and Bryan Safarik were assessed majors for spearing and roughing, respectively, at 16:49 of the first.
The Lakers tied it at 3-3 with a pair of power-play goals from Church and Scott Jones before Jeff Shattler snapped a 23:03 drought for the Shamrocks at 9:25 of the middle period.
Shattler and Duch (with 1.7 seconds to go) gave the Shamrocks a 5-4 advantage going to the third.
鈥淗ome-court advantage played a little bit in the first couple of shifts. We came out hot and flying, but they weathered the storm well and got a late goal in the first and won the second,鈥� said Duch. 鈥淲e showed our character in the third and kind of took it to them a bit.鈥�
Conway finished with a goal and two assists, as did King. Scott Jones and Justin Salt also scored for Burnaby.
Game 2 goes Thursday at 7:45 p.m. in Burnaby and the teams return to The Q Centre on Friday at 6 p.m.
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