The firm of Dickson and Scigliano prosecuted the case for the Maple Ridge Burrards on Tuesday night and the Victoria Shamrocks had no rebuttal.
Curtis Dickson, living up to his nickname “Superman,” scored five goals and goaltender Frank Scigliano was difficult to crack as the Burrards defeated the Shamrocks 9-7 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Lacrosse Association final series.
Shamrocks head coach Bob Heyes was incensed after the game by what he claimed was a Burrards team that fell over too easily after being checked.
“I’m disappointed … [referees] are letting dramatics take over the game,” said Heyes.
“It’s like a soccer game out there. It’s diving straight and simple. Play the game straight up.”
The Burrards had seven power-play chances, on which they scored twice. Victoria had four, on which it scored twice.
A natural hat trick by NLL Saskatchewan Rush pro Ben McIntosh — who with Calgary Roughnecks pro Dickson led Canada to the silver medal last month at the 2018 world field lacrosse championship in Israel — put Maple Ridge ahead 3-0 in the first period.
Victoria starter Adam Shute was chased from the net, and replaced by Cody Hagedorn, after Dickson’s second goal made it 5-1 at 7:04 of the second period.
Rhys Duch completed a hat trick by scoring twice on a two-man power play to bring Victoria to within 7-6 in the third period. But Dickson’s fifth goal at 12:26, followed by another long-range goal by Maple Ridge rookie Jean-Luc Chetner at 15:55, hushed the crowd of 1,614.
Rob Hellyer pulled one back for Victoria but it wasn’t enough.
“The key for us is to play with the intensity we displayed in the final 27 minutes,” said Duch.
“It shouldn’t take calls we don’t agree with to get ourselves going.”
The fourth game is Thursday at Cam Neely Arena in Maple Ridge and the fifth game on Saturday at The Q Centre.
The Shamrocks are in the WLA final for the sixth consecutive season.
This is a reprise of the 2016 final, won in six games by the Burrards, to advance to their first Mann Cup national final since 1990. The Salmonbellies defeated the Shamrocks in five games in last year’s league final.
The WLA champion will meet the winner of the Ontario final between the Peterborough Lakers and Oakville Rock in the best-of-seven 2018 Mann Cup national championship to be played at the home of the Ontario champion. The Lakers lead the Ontario final 1-0.
