Shamrocks Hold Off Saints

The Port Coquitlam Saints looked to rebound from their loss to the Islanders yesterday as they hosted the Victoria Shamrocks this evening.

The Saints got on the board first when Connor Frost scored 31 seconds into the period, but it didn't last long when Max Fredrickson tied it up just over a minute later.

The Shamrocks took advantage of a delayed penalty call as they had great ball movement amongst the six of them which led to a Matt Hamilton goal at 4:04 to give the 'Rocks a 2-1 lead.

Saints' Nathan Marken tied the game up at 7:53, but then the Saints got into penalty trouble. Ryland Rees got two minutes for high sticking followed by a four-minute penalty by Bruce Labelle for checking from behind. Shamrocks' Fredrickson scored his second of the game during the Rees penalty, but then it became the Guilio DelBianco show. Saints' goalie DelBianco made numerous saves to keep it a one goal game as he stopped 24 shots just in the first period. It was all worth it as Marken netted his second of the game to tie the game up with less than a minute left. The first period ended with the shots 27-11.

The Shamrocks came out guns blazing in the second period. McLean Chicquen scored 18 seconds into the period to make it 4-3 'Rocks. The Saints got into penalty trouble again as they gave the Shamrocks a 5-on-3 for the second time in the game. Like the first time around, the Shamrocks scored on the first penalty when Chicquen beat DelBianco for his second of the night, but the 'Rocks couldn't capitalize on the second penalty. 

The Shamrocks went up 6-3 after Fred Bathurst-Hunt passed it to Chicquen to give him a breakaway and Chicuqen made no mistake as he got his hat trick at 7:41. 

While the Saints struggled for most of the second period, they got some momentum when they killed most of their penalty in the Shamrocks zone and that momentum sprung Dylan Foulds to dive across the crease and putting it past Ryley Brown to make it a 6-4 game. Just over two minutes later, Bruce Labelle scored on a breakaway and the Saints were down by 1 heading into the third period. 

The third period was certainly different from the first and second as both teams started to get more physical. With Saints' Tre Mason and Shamrocks' Cole Pickup in the penalty box, Saints' Connor Goodwin took advatange of the open space and evened the score at 9:17. Unfortunately for Luke Moffatt and the Saints, things were going to get a lot more difficult for them. Moffatt received a five-minute penalty for checking from behind along with a game misconduct at 12:05. It wasn't too bad for the Saints early on as Bathurst-Hunt got a penalty for holding and then Frost came up with a huge defensive play to stop Lecky from getting a scoring chance on a breakaway. 

Fortunately for the Shamrocks, they got their lead at 14:10 when Cole Pickup scored on a 5-on-3 with Labelle in the box for holding. Seven seconds later, Goodwin of the Saints received two minutes for crease play, but Shamrocks' Matt Justason got two minutes for roughing as he practically pushed Goodwin into goaltender Brown. With the Shamrocks still on the power play, Nate Wade sealed the deal at 15:57 giving the Shamrocks an 8-6 lead in which they held on to win. 

3 stars
1. Victoria - McLean Chicquen - 3 goals, 4 assists
2. Victoria - Cole Pickup - 1 goal, 2 assists
3. Port Coquitlam - Guilio DelBianco, 45 saves, 8 goals allowed

The Port Coquitlam Saints will now take on the Coquitlam Adanacs this Friday, while the Shamrocks host the New Westminster Salmonbellies on Saturday.