The Victoria Shamrocks know all things are still possible in the Western Lacrosse Association.
鈥淲e have six games remaining, and if we win out, we can finish first,鈥� said head coach Bob Heyes.
That, of course, is a big 鈥榠f.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 tight and every team is playing desperate lacrosse,鈥� said Heyes.
鈥淚t鈥檚 what this time of year in the WLA does to you.鈥�
The Shamrocks (8-4) go into tonight鈥檚 game, against the Lakers in Burnaby, without injured scoring threats Rhys Duch and Chris Wardle, both of whom are NLL pros during the winter season.
鈥淭hose are top offensive guys, so our young guys and defensive guys are going to have to fill the void,鈥� said Heyes.
鈥淏ut we鈥檙e not a flashy, run-and-gun team this season, regardless. We play grind-it-out lacrosse and will have to again [tonight].鈥�
Burnaby鈥檚 5-6-1 record is deceptive. Two of their losses have come in overtime. Unlike in hockey, there is no 鈥榣oser point鈥� awarded for an overtime loss in the WLA. Those go into the books as a straight loss.
Victoria is entering a key stretch. The Shamrocks are in Langley on Wednesday to play the Thunder before meeting the Maple Ridge Burrards in The Q Centre next Friday and visiting Coquitlam the following night.
BOXLA BITS: No Island players are representing sa国际传媒 in the 2018 world field lacrosse championship which began Thursday in Netanya, Israel. But there is other representation with Mathieu Jung of Duncan, who played for Claremont Secondary, playing for China and Dean Stewart of Duncan goaltending for Scotland. Scott Browning and Bert Marshall of Victoria are the respective head and assistant coaches for Hong Kong, while Rob Cook from Victoria is officiating the worlds. . . . The sa国际传媒 Junior A best-of-five playoff first round is set with the Junior Shamrocks, featuring regular-season scoring champion Braylon Lumb, starting out against the powerhouse Adanacs on Saturday in Coquitlam followed by Game 2 Sunday at 1 p.m. at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre. . . . The regular-season champion Shamrocks Junior B Tier 1 squad, with league scoring champion Patrick Dodds, faces off against the No. 8 Richmond Roadrunners in their best-of-three opening round on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre with Game 2 Sunday in Richmond.
