The locals will have an advantage in that the Adanacs were in New Westminster late Thursday night, losing 10-9, so will be playing the back end of two games in two nights in the Western Lacrosse Association.
鈥淐ertainly it will be a tougher matchup. Coquitlam is a very good team, very well coached. They don鈥檛 have a lot of stars on the team, but a lot of guys who really work well together,鈥� said Shamrocks head coach Bob Heyes.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to have to be better in a lot of aspects, but the Langley game was a good progression to that. At times you play to the competition. We鈥檒l be up for Coquitlam and I鈥檓 sure they鈥檒l be up for us,鈥� added Heyes, who expects a battle.
鈥淵eah, they鈥檙e coming off a back-to-back, but we have those situations, too. We still have a long, hard road to a championship ahead of us. We鈥檙e catching them on the back end of a tough game in New Westminster so we鈥檒l be ready.鈥�
The Shamrocks improved to 7-3 with Wednesday鈥檚 win. New West is now 7-3-2 and Coquitlam 6-4 after Thursday鈥檚 late clash at Queen鈥檚 Park Arena.
Victoria will once again be without Jesse King, who is off playing for the Rochester Rattlers of Major League Lacrosse as he continues to travel back and forth. He has played just two games for the Shamrocks, recording four goals in each outing and adding five assists on Wednesday.
鈥淲e still have that depth up front and this will just give Smallsy [Corey Small] and Shats [Jeff Shattler] and [Chris] Wardle more touches out there,鈥� Heyes said of his lefties.
The coach also benefited from a good first outing from goaltender Adam Shute, who made his first start, stopping 41 shots in Langley.
鈥淪hute was good. There were a couple of squeakers, but he absorbed a lot of shots and stood tall,鈥� said Heyes. 鈥淭here was a lot of good stuff from him out there. I was happy for the kid, who just played 15 minutes before that [coming on in relief of Cody Hagedorn against New Westminster a few weeks back].鈥�
Tonight鈥檚 game begins at 7:45 at The Q Centre.
CLOVER POINTS: The Shamrocks and Peninsula Co-op have once again teamed up to present fans with playing cards. Several of the Mann Cup and three-time WLA champions will be at the Goldstream location (on Jacklin Road) handing out cards between 10:30 a.m. and noon on Saturday. Cards are available, while supplies last, at the Keating, Brentwood, Millstream, Goldstream, Wale Road and Pat Bay Highway gas centres. Tonight also features the School鈥檚 Out for Summer promotion presented by McDonald鈥檚 with free Happy Meals for the first 300 kids.
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