Shamrocks Hold On

Submitted by League Reporter, Jen Mutas

Just as Burnaby did on Wednesday night in Coquitlam, the Victoria Shamrocks fought for their playoff lives against the Salmonbellies on Saturday afternoon at Bear Mountain Arena, knowing that one more loss would spell the end of their season and their chance to defend their title as the BCJALL Champions.

In a carbon copy start to games one and two, it was the Shamrocks who would get on the board first with a beautiful goal from Karsen Leung who went over his shoulder and behind the back to beat Neil Tyacke after getting a fantastic pass from Matt Yager who picked Leung out from miles away. A few minutes later Tyler Digby would answer for the 'Bellies and make no mistake in beating out goaltender Adam Hickey, followed by a couple of simultaneous roughing penalties after some pushing and shoving. Not a minute after those penalties were called Shamrock Erik Sage and 'Bellie Payton Sanders dropped the gloves in front of the benches and after a few solid lands from each player, Sage threw Sanders to the floor right in front of the New West bench and head-butted him when he went down, resulting in (from what I understand to be) a three game suspension. After all that, it was Digby from Kevin Crowley again who would score for New West, this time on the five-on-three power play opportunity to give the 'Bellies a quick edge. However from then on it was an onslaught of goals from Victoria by Joel Henry, Casey Jackson, Kory Kowalyk, and two from Mike Pires to take control of the game and head to the break with a four goal lead.

Taking twenty minutes to calm themselves down, and starting the second with Brandon Mulligan in net, the 'Bellies looked to be a new team in the middle frame. Digby would complete his hat trick to start out scoring, followed by Matt MacGrotty and a power play goal from Curtis Dickson as he rifled one from the top of the shooting circle. Jordan Catton would take possession after the (Dickson goal) faceoff and streak in unassisted to get the 'Bellies to within one of the Shamrocks with three minutes left in the period. Pires would get his hat trick in the second period, with Scott Stone scoring on a break away to make sure Victoria kept their lead heading into the third, this time by only two goals.

After his three assists so far on the night, Kevin Crowley joined in on the scoring with a power play goal with about five minutes gone in the final period, but with a couple more opportunities with the man advantage New West just couldn't generate the right offense to get the tying goal. Kowalyk would capitalize on Travis Irving's holding penalty and put Victoria two goals ahead with half a period left in the game, and even with a great effort by Crowley again cutting the middle to put the 'Bellies within one, Kowalyk's goal would be the game winner. It was a rough last minute for New West fans in attendance as the last offensive opportunity for the 'Bellies was snuffed out due to a weak pass across the floor, but there was one more chance left. In the dying seconds of the game and down by one, the 'Bellies collapsed on the ball and somehow gained possession. By the time the whistle was blown there was only .9 seconds left on the clock and after the referees consulted with each other gave New West a generous 4 seconds to work some magic. Unfortunately it just wasn't enough, but down to the last millisecond a tie was certainly an option.

10-9 was the final from Bear Mountain Arena with the Shamrocks holding on to play game four Sunday night in New West at 5pm. Victoria looked like their old selves in the first period taking complete offensive control, and advantage of their power play opportunities. Being outshot by ten in both the second and third periods, the goaltending from Hickey was a huge factor in the win for the 'Rocks. If there was one thing to completely forget about for the 'Bellies, it was the entire first period with the exception of Digby's two goals. New West couldn't pass, catch, score on the power play, stay out of the box, or cycle; they collapsed defensively which is very uncharacteristic, especially in a game of this caliber. Their special teams were a sore factor on the night as well, but got better as the game progressed. No penalties in the second period gave them a bit of a chance, but it was the play of relief goaltender Brandon Mulligan that stood out for the blue, red, and white, coming in to relieve Tyacke and making 19 saves with 4 goals against.

Both game fours in the BCJALL second round playoffs go down on Sunday, one after the other at Queen's Park Arena (5pm), followed by Bill Copeland Arena for the A's/Lakers at 7PM.