VICTORIA聽 9
BURNABY聽 6
Victoria leads series 2-0
A sloppy opening 20 minutes failed to deter the Victoria Shamrocks, who bounced back from a 5-1 deficit to win 9-6 against the visiting Burnaby Lakers at The Q Centre on Saturday night.
The victory gives the Shamrocks a 2-0 advantage in the best-of-seven Western Lacrosse Association semifinal series.
Shamrocks goaltender Aaron Bold stymied the Lakers over the final 40 minutes, allowing one goal over 25 shots in the final two frames. Burnaby outshot Victoria 45-39 overall before a crowd of about 2,000.
Bold鈥檚 National Lacrosse League rights were traded to the New England Black Wolves last week in a move that did not sit well with Saskatchewan Rush fans.
He said of the final 40 minutes: 鈥淭hey were chirping me and, of course, with all the events that have come into play with the last little while with myself and lacrosse, I used that as motivation and fuel, and I will continue to do that.鈥�
The Victoria native closed the door on Saturday and gave his team a chance to come back.
鈥淗onestly, it shows our character facing that adversity,鈥� Bold said of the Shamrocks鈥� bounce-back.
鈥淲e stuck with it, played to our principles, got a bit more gritty and finished our checks. That was the biggest thing. They didn鈥檛 want to go through the middle after a while.鈥�
Corey Small, who struggled with turnovers in the opening 20 minutes, turned it around offensively with three goals and four assists, while Joe Resetarits had two goals and four helpers for the winners.
Chris Wardle, Casey Jackson, Evan Messenger and Sheldon Burns added one goal apiece.
Robert Church, with three, Peter McFetridge, Jackson Decker and Cam Milligan replied for the Lakers, whose transition game hurt the Rocks badly in the first.
Game 3 is in Burnaby at 6 p.m. on Monday.
CLOVER POINTS: The Shamrocks inducted three more members to the Wall of Fame in former offensive star Lewis Ratcliff, a three-time league MVP and five-time all-star, and 25-year volunteers Murray and Eve Rhode.
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