MAPLE RIDGE聽 9
VICTORIA聽 8
Maple Ridge wins series 4-1
What do Lex Luthor, General Zod and the Victoria Shamrocks all have in common?
They鈥檝e all fought losing battles against Superman.
The Maple Ridge Burrards鈥� version of the Man of Steel brought his team to life Saturday at the Q Centre and helped put an end to the Shamrocks鈥� season.
Curtis Dickson, making like the DC Comics superhero, scored four goals and added an assist to lead the Burrards to a 9-8 victory in Game 5, giving Maple Ridge the Western Lacrosse Association title with a 4-1 series victory.
The Burrards move on to the Mann Cup final and now await the winner of the Major Series Lacrosse final between Peterborough and Oakville. That series is tied 1-1, with Game 3 slated for today.
Not even Casey Jackson, making like the Green Arrow and scoring five goals to help make up for the loss of Jesse King and Chris Wardle to injuries, could save the Shamrocks on this night.
鈥淐onsidering our banged-up lineup, the effort tonight was phenomenal and each guy in that room really represented the Shamrocks crest with class and dignity tonight,鈥� said Shamrocks coach Bob Heyes, whose club falls in the WLA final for the second straight season.
The Shamrocks, riding Jackson鈥檚 hot stick, jumped out to a 3-0 lead, thanks to a natural hat trick by Jackson, but Dickson and the Burrards chipped away and grabbed their first lead with 4:16 to play in the third on a Chase McIntyre short-handed marker that put the Burrards up 8-7.
Dickson then put the dagger in the 鈥橰ocks with his fourth of the night with just 55 seconds left. Jackson gave his team and the home crowd of 1,442 in attendance some life, but like he did all series, netminder Frank Scigliano slammed the door again.
鈥淲e didn鈥檛 give up, took it to the last second, but Frank stood tall, like he has all series, and, of course, Dickson had another big night,鈥� Heyes said. 鈥淪o tip your cap to them, they had an outstanding series and they will do the WLA proud and have an excellent opportunity to do something that hasn鈥檛 been done in a long time, and that is to bring the Mann Cup back from out East.鈥�
Dickson, a national team player and NLL star, shook off a one-goal performance in Game 4, to earn first star honours on Saturday.
鈥淲e knew they would come out hot and we did a good job of weathering the storm because 3-0 down in lacrosse in the first period isn鈥檛 too bad,鈥� Dickson said.
鈥淎nd when they came on strong at the end, Frankie shut the door and the guys dug down to get the win, so we鈥檙e really excited to be moving on because [Adam] Shutes and [Matt] Yager and their defence played extremely well all series.鈥�
Dickson spent several seasons playing for Peterborough and can鈥檛 wait for more battles in Ontario. 鈥淣o matter who comes out of that Ontario series it will be a hostile environment we鈥檒l be playing in,鈥� he said.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a reason teams from the West struggle out East, so we鈥檙e looking forward to the challenge.鈥�
Rob Hellyer, Tyson Gibson and Dallas Wade had the other Shamrocks goals.
Scigliano made 45 saves for the win, while Shute stopped 41 shots.
