Victoria Shamrocks coach Bob Heyes tried to put it into a context Canadian sports fans might better understand: “If this was hockey, it would be Crosby versus Ovechkin . . . simply, the two best in the world going at it.”
He was referring to Joe Resetarits and Robert Church.
The Victoria Shamrocks’ Resetarits recorded three goals and five assists in leading the fourth-seed Shamrocks to a riveting 12-10 Western Lacrosse Association victory and 3-1 lead over the top-seed Burnaby Lakers in their best-of-seven semifinal playoff series.
Church, like Resetarits a former NCAA Div. 1 standout and now an NLL pro, scored four goals on an amazing 13 shots for Burnaby.
“It’s playoff lacrosse. Both teams want it. But we dug a little deeper,” said Resetarits.
The native of New York state is in his first season with the Shamrocks and was blown away by the deafening din created in The Q Centre by a midweek crowd of 1,622 that was on edge most of the night.
“This is like playing in winter [pro NLL]. Knowing that these fans are behind you makes you want to play even harder,” said Resetarits
It was a game of swings as Victoria eclipsed a 2-0 Burnaby lead with six unanswered goals. The Lakers, however, answered with three consecutive goals of their own.
Burnaby led 8-7 early in the third period before the streak-happy Shamrocks laced into the Lakers with three straight goals. But the Lakers wouldn't go away and it took a breathless floor-length goal into an empty net by speedy rookie Danny Smith with 12 seconds remaining to truly clinch it for Victoria.
“It’s never boring. It was a great gut check for us,” said Heyes.
“We battled back early, after giving up the first two goals, and that was the key.”
So was the play of Victoria goaltender Aaron Bold, who squared up and stood his ground, against an onslaught of 51 shots by an offensively-loaded Burnaby club.
“There was 100 per cent buy-in . . . and the energy and work ethic that creates is always the payoff for us,” said Bold.
The Shamrocks got 48 shots on Burnaby goaltender Eric Penney.
Casey Jackson had two goals and three assists for Victoria, Corey Small a goal and five assists, Mike Triolo a goal and three assists, Steve Priolo a goal and two assists, Evan Messanger and Chris Wardle a goal and assist each, and Sheldon Burns a goal.
Game 5 is Friday at Bill Copeland Arena in Burnaby. If required, Game 6 would be Sunday at The Q Centre, and Game 7 Tuesday in Burnaby.
