Shamrocks Improve to 5-1

The Tier 1 Shamrocks improved their record to 5-1 with a home floor 14-9 victory over the Langley Thunder Saturday at the Q Centre. The Rocks held period leads of 4-1 and 11-4 before being outscored 5-3 by the visitors in the final period but held on for the win.

Starting goaltender for Victoria was Ryan Atkinson and it was the home team getting the early lead, Isaac Swan scoring at the 3:31 mark with a quick stick in close.  Off the ensuing faceoff, just 4 seconds later, Denton Macdonald made it 2-0 for the Shamrocks and at 4:05 it was Casey Wilson opening up the 3-0 lead with a loose ball pickup in front.  Langley replied at 9:54, Nathan Lavigne finding the back of the net before Jonathan Boyd got Victoria’s fourth at 10:57 to make the score 4-1 for the home team as there was no other scoring in the opening period.

Victoria started period 2 with a 4-goal run, the first coming just 31 seconds in as Patrick Dodds came out of the penalty box to pick up a pass and break in.  Boyd picked up his second of the night at 3:43 off a rebound in front and Nic Coleman widened Victoria’s led to 7-1 at 4:26 with a hard shot from outside the dotted line.  Dodds picked up his second at 4:49 before Langley found the net again, Josh Bramley scoring on the power play at 7:17.  The Rocks got some special team goals of their own, Brayden McQuarrie and Coleman, with his second of thecontest each scoring shorthanded goals at 9:30 and 10:43 respectively.  Langley replied with a pair before Boyd closed out the second period scoring at 18:15, with the Shamrocks making good on second and third efforts in close.

The Rocks again scored first in the final period, Macdonald getting his second of the game at 1:32, getting in alone.  It looked as if the visitors might be making a comeback as they collected 3 straight before Wilson scored his second for the Shamrocks at 8:13 from the dotted line.  That made the score 13-7 but Langley got a power play marker at 11:06 and a shorthanded marker at 14:59 to close the gap to 13-9.  With time running out, Angus Connorton picked up a loose ball and got a breakaway to score the Rocks’ fourteenth goal of the game with just 5 ticks on the clock to put away the victory.

Jonathan Boyd led the Shamrocks’ offense with the hat trick and 2 assists.  Casey Wilson and Denton Macdonald had a pair of goals and 3 assists while Nic Coleman and Patrick Dodds had a pair of each.  Singles came from Brayden MacQuarrie, Angus Connorton and Isaac Swan.  Ryan Atkinson picked up the win in goal.

The Tier 1Shamrocks are on the mainland Sunday to face the Coquitlam Adanacs and return to the Q Centre next Saturday, May 26 at 1:00 pm to take on the Richmond Roadrunners.