Rocks Feast on Salmonbellies

The Tier 1 Shamrocks extended their winning streak to 3 games with a 12-8 victory over the visiting New Westminster Salmonbellies Saturday at the Q Center.  The Rocks heldperiod leads of 5-3 and 8-6 on the way to the win and never trailed in the contest.

Adam Bland started in goal for the Rocks with Colton Caron getting the nod for the ‘Bellies.  Victoria opened the scoring at 1:22 Isaac Swan connecting on a quick stick going to the net.  New West got that one back at 4:17, Blake Bosak finding twine off a rebound right in front.  The Rocks rattled off 3 straight, beginning with Jacob Obee’s shorthander at 7:08 grabbing a long outlet pass from Griffin Hall and going in alone.  A second shorthanded marker at 7:39 from Evan Law made it 3-1 for the home team and at 10:30 Swan picked up his second of the game, going to the net.  Special teams played a big role in period 1 and the Salmonbellies replied at 13:19 with a power play goal, an unassisted tally from Austin Taggart off a rebound.  Victoria came back with yet another shorthanded goal, this one from Travis Pullan at 19:21 on a breakaway and before the period ended, New West got one back, Cam Husband scoring a power play goal on a hard, low shot from outside the dotted line with just 5 ticks left on the clock.  After 20 minutes it was 5-3 for the home team.

Victoria added to its lead to begin period 2, Law picking up his second of the game at 5:54 with a hard shot from outside the dotted line and Jonathon Boyd made it 7-3 with a power play goal 2 minutes later, that goal coming with a 2-man advantage.  New Westminster replied with a shorthanded marker at 11:43, John Etzel going to the net and added a power play goal of their own, Axel Sanderson scoring at 14:14.  That made it 7-5 and the teams traded goals to end the period, Cole Arthur scoring for the Shamrocks at 18:04 on a run and Marcus Cyrenne replying for the ‘Bellies at 19:19 to round out the second period scoring.

Early in the third, Victoria went on a 3-goal run including a pair of power play goals as penalties began to pile up for both teams.  Law picked up his hat trick marker at 2:59, finishing off some great ball control with the Rocks again having a 5-3 manpower advantage.  Davis McCulley added another power play goal at 8:36 from outside the dotted line.  Graham Goodfellow put the home team up by 5 with an unassisted goal at 9:40 going to the net but just 13 seconds later Nolan Morrison pulled the Salmonbellies closer with a power play goal of his own, a shot that Bland got a piece of but couldn’t quite corral.  The teams traded goals, Arthur picking up his second for the Shamrocks at 12:56 on a break and Husband picking up his second for the visitors at 13:05 to close out the scoring.  Both teams paraded to the penalty box during the late minutes as Victoria continues to lead the league in penalty minutes.

Leading Victoria’s offense was Evan Law with the hat trick.  Isaac Swan chipped in 2 goals and 3 assists while Cole Arthur also had a pair of goals and did a good job on faceoffs as well.  Single goals came from Graham Goodfellow, Travis Pullan, Davis McCulley, Jonathon Boyd and Jacob Obee.  Team captain Nic Coleman and Griffin Hall contributed 3 and 2 assists respectively.  Adam Bland went the distance to pick up the win in goal.

The Tier 1 Shamrocks are on the road Sunday to face the Langley Thunder and return to the Q Center Tuesday, June 4 at 7:30 to take on their island rivals the Nanaimo Timbermen.  After that, the Rocks have just a pair of home games left as the season winds down.