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There are no secrets in the Western Lacrosse Association. All these players know each other well, either from the pro NLL or U.S. collegiate NCAA field-lacrosse days. The Victoria Shamrocks certainly had the New Westminster Salmonbellies well cased Friday night before 2,315 fans at the Q Centre.
The Shamrocks (7-2) defeated the Salmonbellies (6-3) by a comprehensive 18-8 count as Victoria won for the seventh consecutive game to send New Westminster to its third straight loss.
鈥淓veryone on the team was pivotal in this win. It showed our depth,鈥� said Rhys Duch, whose two goals and three assists moved him into the WLA scoring lead on 40 points, two ahead of Langley鈥檚 Patrick Saunders and three up on Victoria teammate Cory Conway.
The Shamrocks were literally emBoldened in victory. The six-foot-two Aaron Bold, who backstopped the Edmonton Rush to the 2015 pro NLL championship this spring, made his debut in the Shamrocks goal.
Bold is set to start again tonight when the Shamrocks are in Coquitlam against the Adanacs (4-4). These are the first two of five regular-season games he must play in order to be eligible for the playoffs.
The Victoria native, who will go to Edmonton following the weekend to attend to personal and business matters, is scheduled to return to play the final three games of the regular season.
The Salmonbellies touched Bold on just their second shot of the night, with Jordan McBride scoring at 48 seconds to begin his hat-trick night. But then a green tsunami descended as the Shamrocks scored five consecutive goals, including the first two by Corey Small, to take a 5-1 lead into the first break. Victoria extended that to a 13-5 lead by the end of the second period.
Bold made 33 saves while Alexis Buque and Eric Penney combined to make 36 for New Westminster.
Small and Jesse King led Victoria with three goals each. Daryl Veltman and Duch scored two apiece. Dan Dawson, a physical presence, had a goal and six assists in his second game for Victoria. Karsen Leung, Steve Priolo, Mitch Jones, Tyler Hass and hard-digging Tyler Burton also scored for Victoria.
Conway had a goal and three assists. Defensive specialist Rory Smith scored on a penalty shot in the last minute for the exclamation.
BOXLA BITS: Victoria fans will know Brendan Ranford of the Salmonbellies also from another sport. He played for Kamloops against the Victoria Royals in the WHL. Ranford, now with the Texas Stars of the AHL, played his first NHL game this season for the Dallas Stars . . . The Salmonbellies continue their Island adventure tonight in Nanaimo (2-5).
