Shamrocks Topple Timbermen

The Tier 1 Jr. ‘B’ Shamrocks extended their winning streak to 5 games with a home floor 9-8 victory over the visiting Nanaimo Tmbermen Tuesday at the Q Center.  The Rocks held period leads of 4-2 and 8-5 before Nanaimo roared back with 3 straight goals to tie the score before Davis McCulley scored the winner for the home team at 9:47 of the final period.

Nolan Dalep and Colby Bowman were the starting goaltenders for the home and visiting teams respectively and it was Victoria hitting the scoresheet first, Aido Solomon scoring on a breakaway just 22 seconds in.  At 2:52 Evan Law made it 2-0 Shamrocks with a power play goal, bouncing the ball off the goaltender into the back of the net.  Nanaimo got one back, also with the man advantage, Derian Thompson scoring with a quick stick right in front at 4:17.  Victoria added a pair to its side of the ledger, Cameron Lumb tallying at 6:23, going to the net and Joe Zerr adding an unassisted goal at 13:12, breaking out of the penalty box to get the breakaway.  Nanaimo replied at 19:42 with Riley Arsenault’s goal on a hard shot from outside the dotted line.  That made it 4-2 going into the intermission for the home team, both teams spending a considerable amount of time in the penalty box.

Victoria opened the middle frame with 3 straight goals, Isaac Swan picking up the first at the 2:19 mark, getting in close, another power play marker for the Rocks.  Matthew Atkinson got a rare goal, the defender gobbling up a loose ball and breaking in at 5:44.  Zerr picked up his second of the game at 11:56 with a hard shot from the dotted line and it was 7-2 for the boys in green.  Nanaimo answered back, however, scoring the next 3 goals of the period.  Kyle Drouin scored at 12:40, picking up a ball right in front of Dalep off a rebound.  Geoff Ward got another, on the power play, at 17:11 again off a rebound and Justin Reedeker added another just 40 seconds later, on a break.  Victoria got the final goal of the period, Lumb collecting his second, finishing off some tic-tac-toe passing with Brodie Wade and Evan Law picking up assists at 19:41.  After 40 minutes it was 8-5 for the home team.

Nanaimo might have been down but they were not out as they battled with 3 goals to start period 3.  Reedeker picked up his second of the game at 1:03 from inside the dotted line.  Arsenault then added two more to get the hat trick, the first coming at 3:49 and the second at 9:34 with a bullet from outside the dotted line.  That tied the score at 8 with a little more than half a period left but the tie didn’t last for long.  At 9:47 with Victoria once again enjoying the manpower advantage, Davis McCulley fired from outside the dotted line and found twine with what would be the game winner.  Neither team scored in the latter half of the period but the penalty box was seldom empty.

The Shamrocks are atop the standings with 20 points with the Coquitlam Adanacs 4 points behind but holding games in hand.

Leading the way offensively for the Shamrocks were Joe Zerr and Cameron Lumb with 2 goals and an assist each.  Isaac Swan and Evan Law each contributed a goal and 3 helpers with other goals coming from Matt Atkinson, Aido Solomon, and Davis McCulley.  Jonathon Boyd had a 3-point night with all 3 coming on assists.  Nolan Dalep made 38 saves to pick up the win in goal.  

Next home game for the Tier 1 Junior B Shamrocks is Saturday, June 22 when they will host the Port Coquitlam Saints at 1:00 pm.  The Jr. ‘A’ Rocks are also at home that day, hosting the Delta Islanders at 5:00 pm.  That date is a special one on the teams’ calendar as it is Alumni Day when the Jr. ‘A’ team will wear special retro jerseys, there will be a tailgate party between games and lots of special events happening during the day.