Ask Bob Heyes if his Victoria Shamrocks have the advantage going into the Western Lacrosse Association championship 鈥� having finished with a better overall record and having won two of three against the New Westminster Salmonbellies in the regular season 鈥� and he scoffs.
鈥淚t goes out the window. They played us really well in the game we lost, which was the last one,鈥� said Heyes. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e a good team that has gone about things quietly.
鈥淭hey have a very similar team to us. They run. They have good defence and their offence has some talent,鈥� added Heyes. 鈥淚 watched their game [Monday]; their transition game generated some big goals for them and their goaltending is young, but young goalies get hot.鈥�
The Salmonbellies, like the Shamrocks, swept their way into the upcoming best-of-seven championship series, defeating Langley 10-8 on Monday to advance after Victoria dismissed Maple Ridge on Sunday.
Game 1 of the WLA championship 鈥� in which the Shamrocks will be looking for a third straight crown 鈥� is Friday at 6 p.m. at The Q Centre.
鈥淚t will be a different series than Maple Ridge,鈥� insisted Heyes. 鈥淪ure, there will be good tough lacrosse, but it won鈥檛 be in your face with a lot of cheap shots and greasiness going on. I think it will be good, fast-paced lacrosse.鈥�
The Shamrocks won the first two games head-to-head with 18-8 and 13-8 victories over a span of six days in late June and early July at home and away. New Westminster claimed the final win 9-7 at home on July 23 in a game in which Victoria left Rhys Duch at home due to a maintenance day.
The Shamrocks played the next night in Victoria and wanted the scoring star to rest up a wobbly foot. They were also without Greg Harnett, who is also out with a head injury.
The 9-7 defeat was the only loss Shamrocks goalie Aaron Bold has suffered in green and white this season, going 4-1 in the regular-season and 4-0 in playoffs.
On the opposite end, Eric Penney was 8-3 during the season and 4-0 in the playoffs.
鈥淧enney took the load when [Alexis] Buque was hurt,鈥� Heyes said of the Salmonbellies鈥� netminder.鈥滺e鈥檚 just run with it. He鈥檚 a kid that doesn鈥檛 beat himself. You have to get in on top. We have to make sure we鈥檙e challenging their goaltending from outside and inside and don鈥檛 make it easy on him.
鈥淚鈥檓 sure they will adjust accordingly to play against us and we鈥檒l do that as well, just like we did against Maple Ridge,鈥� added Heyes. 鈥淭hey played a zone defence in the last game against us and it took us a period to figure it out.鈥�
He鈥檚 just glad that series is over and that the team has some rest in between.
鈥淎lthough it was only four games, they were four tough games. There are a lot of bumps and bruises,鈥� said Heyes. 鈥淭hey took a ton of liberties on us and I鈥檓 sure they鈥檙e saying the same about us.
鈥淏ut it鈥檚 playoff lacrosse now,鈥� stressed Heyes. 鈥淓very game has to be our best game. We can鈥檛 expect it to be a four-game series either. We have to have the mindset that it鈥檚 one game at a time. I don鈥檛 expect us to sweep it by any stretch. I expect every game to be hard fought and not a blowout like Maple Ridge at all.鈥�
