The Victoria Shamrocks overwhelmed a young and rebuilding Burnaby Lakers squad 21-6 in a Western Lacrosse Association game played in front of 2,095 spectators Friday night at The Q Centre.
The incendiary Shamrocks forward, Jesse King, had six goals on a 12-point night. The Claremont Secondary Spartans graduate, who played NCAA Div. 1 field lacrosse in the Big Ten for the Ohio State Buckeyes, has 10 goals and 20 points in just two games as Victoria followed up its 14-10 season-opening victory last week against the New Westminster Salmonbellies.
Powerful yet crafty at the same time, King leads the WLA in goals, assists, points, power-play goals (three) and game-winning goals (two).
“Jesse King is the most complete box-lacrosse player in the world,” said Shamrock head coach Mike Simpson, following the game.
“And he is a fantastic leader who leads by example. When I asked the guys to cut off the Burnaby fast-break tonight, the first guy to wheel back to centre floor was Jesse King.”
Younger brother Marshal King, out of Claremont and NCAA Div. 1 Drexel, added two goals on an eight-point outing Friday.
Patrick Dodds, called up from the Junior Shamrocks, had a hat trick and six points to follow up his notable National Lacrosse League pro debut for Panther City of Fort Worth, Texas, in which the six-foot-three, 212-pound power-forward scored 26 goals with 58 assists for 84 points in 17 games. Dodds, 20 and still a junior, showed why he poised to become a big star in the game.
Larson Sundown recorded his second consecutive hat trick while Jacob Ruest and Tyler Burton scored twice each, Nick Preston had a goal and five assists and Jake Foster a goal and three assists. Defensive specialist and NLL pro Jackson Nishimura, from the Albany FireWolves, scored in his WLA debut for Victoria.
“I liked how we managed the ball offensively and how we cut off the fast break, which is Burnaby’s bread and butter,” said Simpson.
“It was a really strong night for our group. Even more than the number of goals scored, I was proudest of how responsible our offence was in its attention to detail.”
Burnaby (1-2) was coming off a 13-11 victory Thursday night in New Westminster and appeared to just run out of gas. Pearson Willis had two goals for the Lakers and Connor Watson a goal and five points.
The Shamrocks first road game is Sunday at Cam Neely Arena in Maple Ridge against the Burrards (0-1).
The Nanaimo Timbermen, off to a 0-2 start, host the undefeated Coquitlam Adanacs (3-0) Saturday night at Frank Crane Arena.
cdheensaw@timecolonist.com
