VICTORIA 7
COQUITLAM 6
Noah Talbot was one of those guys who always bled Victoria Shamrocks green. Now, after two years off, the 34-year-old is back in Victoria colours. On Friday night, Talbot and the defence held the fort, as the Shamrocks edged the Coquitlam Adanacs 7-6 at the Q Centre.
“Our defence played great, and [goaltender] Matt Flindell was outstanding,” Shamrocks coach Bob Heyes said, impressed with the young goalie, who has taken over the starting job.
“He’s coming into his own.”
With the victory, the Shamrocks improved their record to 2-0-1, while Coquitlam fell to 1-2-0. The ’Rocks are in New Westminster to take on the Salmonbellies on Thursday, and return to the Q Centre on Friday, against the Maple Ridge Burrards. Game time is 7:45 p.m.
For Talbot, winding up back on the lacrosse floor was a bit of surprise. The Shamrocks were short players, with five still away playing in the National Lacrosse League playoffs with the Calgary Roughnecks, and Talbot got a call.
“I was asked to fill in, and the next thing I knew, I was here,” said Talbot, who was rookie of the year for the Junior ’Rocks in 1998, and won a Mann Cup with the senior team in 2005. He also spent several years in the NLL, but these days, he’s taking the future game by game.
“We’ll see. Things are looking good so far.”
While Talbot wasn’t sure he’d be up to speed, as nothing compares with the intensity of a game, the feel is coming back, he said. Meanwhile, Talbot is impressed with the team’s young skilled players, who are bound to benefit from his veteran influence on the back end.
“He knows our system inside and out, and he’s a calming influence,” Victoria assistant coach Art Webster said.
“He’s always steady. You know what you’re going to get every single night.”
Defence was up front on Friday, as both teams were still waiting for some of their offensive firepower to join their lineups.
The Shamrocks did, however, have league-leading scorer Corey Small, who had been a game-day decision due to an injury. Small, with his greased lightning of a shot, opened the scoring at 2:15 of the first period. Outshooting the Adanacs considerably at the start, the Shamrocks were unable to build on their lead, and young Tyler Garrison evened things at 8:05.
“He was our first-round draft pick,” Coquitlam coach Bob Salt said about the former Junior Adanac. “He’s a fabulous player — a defensive player that runs out of his own end really well.”
The stalemate continued down to the final minute of the opening period, with the Adanacs making quite a bit of music off the goal posts to help out Flindell.
On a Coquitlam power play, Tyler Hass took a pass from Flindell, and raced down the floor to score shorthanded on Adanacs goalie Adam Shute. The big crowd liked that one, but it was a short-lived advantage, as Coquitlam tied it 2-2 on the same power play to lock it up by the first break.
The Shamrocks picked up the pace about the midway point of the second period. The home side went to the second intermission up 6-3 on goals by Ethan Garland, Brandon Bull, and two more by Small, with only Kyle Dobbie able to answer for Coquitlam.
Full of hard-hitting defensive players, the game had plenty of bruising, but mostly legal hits. Tackling Ben McCullough as he drove to the goal wasn’t a good idea for the Adanacs, though, as McCullough nailed a penalty shot to increase the Victoria lead to 7-4 at 9:40 of the third period.
A few minutes later, Hass didn’t take kindly to being creamed in the corner, and went to the box, resulting in power play goals by Jason Gestaldo and Ryan Keith. Along with an earlier score by Brett Hickey, the Adanacs were suddenly only down 7-6, and knocking on the door.
Thanks to a late man-advantage, the ’Rocks were able to run down the clock and hold on to the win. Shots were 42-39 for Coquitlam.
“It took us a long time to get into the flow,” Heyes said. “We made it exciting.”
