Shamrocks Shock the Adanacs

The Victoria Shamrocks visited the Coquitlam Sports Centre to take on the Coquitlam Adanacs in an early afternoon game and to somewhat of a surprise, the game headed to overtime.

The Adanacs peppered Shamrocks goaltender Charles Claxton early and often in the first period as he stopped 21 of 22 shots. It didn’t help that the Shamrocks took 3 penalties in the period, but to come out of the period losing 1-0 and managing only 7 shots on goal was certainly a plus.

The Adanacs finally started to solve Claxton in the second period. Shamrocks’ Max Fredrickson tied the game just under a minute into the period, but Spencer Stevens and Andy Campbell responded for the Adanacs to give them a 3-1 lead early in the period.

Ryan Lewis cut the Adanacs lead to 1 shortly after, but the Adanacs regained their two-goal lead when Brett Kujala scored shorthanded half way through the period. After Stevens netted his second of the game, the Shamrocks responded quickly with a goal from Tyson Fair to make it 5-3 Adanacs, but with 55 seconds remaining in the period, Mike Rybka gave the Adanacs a three-goal lead heading into the third period.

It’s always great when one penalty can completely turn a game around and that came at the hands of a five-minute elbowing penalty by Adanacs’ Andy Campbell. With just under ten minutes remaining in the third period, Shamrocks’ Ryan Lewis netted a pair on the powerplay to make it a one-goal game. It only got worse for the Adanacs when Ryan Ishikawa received two minutes for high sticking and Cole Pickup capitalized on the powerplay to tie the game up.

The Shamrocks and Adanacs both received minor penalties in the last 6 minutes of the game, but both teams couldn’t take put the game away and the game headed into overtime. Both teams had chances in overtime, but it was the Shamrocks who were able to capitalize on those chances as Pickup and Lucas Crowther netted a goal each and the Shamrocks defeated the Adanacs 8-6.  

The Adanacs finished 1/6 on the powerplay, while the Shamrocks ended 3/8. Shots were 54 for the Adanacs and 38 for the Shamrocks.

Three Stars of the Game

1. Victoria – Charles Claxton – 48 saves, 6 goals allowed

2. Victoria – Cole Pickup – 2 goals, 1 assist

3. Coquitlam – Brett Kujala – 2 goals, 3 assists

The Adanacs will look to forget about this game and move on to their next game against the Burnaby Lakers on May 10. The Shamrocks will look to keep the ball rolling when they take on the Langley Thunder at The Q Centre on May 9.