Marshal King scored with 27 seconds remaining in the third period as the Victoria Shamrocks rallied for an electric 10-9 victory over the Coquitlam Adanacs before a capacity 2,300 fans at The Q Centre.
It was on Stronger Together Night in support of the Saanich and Victoria police officers shot in the Saanich bank robbery this summer, which put a mere sporting event into perspective.
The Shamrocks scored first through Brad McCulley but the Adanacs rattled off the next five goals to take a 5-1 lead into the first break. The Shamrocks whittled that to 5-3 early in the second period. The Shamrocks kept up the pressure, and goals, as the A’s took a 7-6 lead into the second break.
Veteran sniper Rhys Duch was named game’s first star with two goals and four assists for Victoria on a six-point night. Marshal King added two goals and two assists to be named third star. Coquitlam’s standout goaltender of a generation, Chris Del Bianco, was named second star as Victoria outshot Coquitlam 58-41.
But despite the onslaught, it went down to the wire thanks to the brilliance of Del Bianco, a National Lacrosse League pro with the Calgary Roughnecks in the winter season. The reliable Victoria forward had two goals and three assists and Shamrocks and Colorado Mammoth NLL veteran Chris Wardle two goals. Jake Foster and McCulley scored once each. Dylan Watson scored a hat-trick for Coquitlam.
The Shamrocks (10-3) moved into a first-place tie with the Adanacs (10-5) and Nanaimo Timbermen (10-6) but with games in hand on both those clubs.
The Shamrocks are in Nanaimo tonight to take on the Timbermen in another key game atop the table as the Island derby lights up Frank Crane Arena.
