The Maple Ridge Burrards were off for seven days between series, but it was the Victoria Shamrocks who strangely looked rusty, losing the opening game of the Western Lacrosse Association final 11-6 to the visitors on Wednesday.
Dan Taylor had a goal and six assists, four of those helpers in the first period alone, as the Burrards drew first blood on an warm night at The Q Centre.
Game 2 goes Friday at 6 p.m. on the mainland before the two teams return to Victoria for Game 3 on Sunday at 6 p.m.
It may have been warm but the Shamrocks went stone cold.
Corey Small gave the Shamrocks a 2-0 lead 4:12 into the game beating Frankie Scigliano on a hard shot on his first goal and then sneaking one through the netminder with his second. It was fairly quiet from then on in the opening stanza with just Rhys Duch, on a long laser, that made it 3-2 hosts at 8:30.
The Burrards took a 5-3 lead into the dressing room after the opening 20 minutes and shut-out the Shamrocks in the second to assume an 8-3 advantage.
“We didn’t play our game. They came in here and dictated the game from the start,” said Shamrocks head coach Bob Heyes, whose team is coming off a grueling seven-game series. “We looked tired out there, it’s not an excuse, but we looked tired.
“When we played with urgency, like in the third period, then we played our game, drawing them into penalties. We didn’t deserve to win tonight. They out-worked us. Forget about the game and come back on Friday and take it to them in their barn.”
Down 9-3 early in the third, Victoria used power-play goals from Cory Conway and Duch 42 seconds apart, the first on a 5-on-3, in the first four minutes of the third to cut it to 9-5.
The Burrards used a pair of power-play goals of their own to grab their first leads, the first on a 5-on-3 at 11:47 of the first period and one 45 seconds later to make it 5-3.
Ben McIntosh and Jarrett Davis each had a pair, Mike Mallory, Riley Loewen, Luke Gillespie, Connor Goodwin, Matt Symes and Zach Porter also scored for Maple Ridge.
Braylon Lumb added a late power-play goal for Victoria.
Shamrocks starting goalie Adam Shute was pulled after allowing six goals on 21 shots with Cody Hagedorn finishing it up with 17 saves. Scigliano stopped 47.
CLOVER POINTS: The Shamrocks inducted Tom Black onto their Wall of Fame after the first period. Legendary player Gary Gait was also in the building.
mannicchiarico@timescolonist.com
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