All squared up at two games for WLA Finals Game Five tonight in Victoria

  August 31, 2016

 

Maple Ridge Burrards @ Victoria Shamrocks WLA Final Game Five

Wednesday, August 31st @ 7:45pm, The Q Centre

All squared up at 2 for Game Five tonight in Victoria

 

Written by: Lucas Wilson

The back-and-forth battle between the Victoria Shamrocks and Maple Ridge Burrards continues. After a tough overtime loss on Sunday night, the Shamrocks played a solid game start to finish in Game Four on Tuesday night. It was a tough, physical matchup in Maple Ridge, but the Shamrocks came away with an 11-8 win to tie the series at 2.

Strong starts have not been an issue for the Shamrocks. In Game Four, goals from Jeff Shattler, Braylon Lumb, Chris Wardle, and Rhys Duch made in 4-0 within the first seven minutes of the game. The Burrards roared back to make it a 4-3 game heading into the first intermission. The second period started out slow, but finished with remarkable intensity. The Shamrocks outscored the Burrards 5-4 in the period to take a 9-7 lead, but what happened at the end of the second period was most notable. After a late Burrards goal, both teams’ benches got heated with each other, including a showdown between coaches. This set up an even more intense third period. The Burrards and Shamrocks exchanged one goal each, which gave the Shamrocks the comfortable win, tempers flared after the final whistle. A few blows were exchanged, but things eventually settled down, and the Shamrocks headed home with a tied series.  There is no doubt that such an intense finish to Game Four will set up a thrilling Game Five.

Shamrocks will no doubt come out strong again for a victory in front of their fans tonight in Game Five, which would give them a 3-2 series lead and a chance to advance to the Mann Cup for the fourth straight year. After such a physical battle last night, it will be interesting to see what shape both teams are in for tonight’s Game Five matchup. This playoff run for the Shamrocks is continuing to prove what a hard grind the WLA playoffs can be.

 

Burrards Scouting Report

The depth up front continues to show itself for the Maple Ridge Burrards. Dan Taylor leads the way with 36 points, but Ben McIntosh and Riley Loewen are right behind with 35 and 31 points respectively. Mike Mallory and Connor Goodwin have also contributed to the offence that has given Adam Shute and Cody Hagedorn some trouble in this series. This series with the Burrards has brought plenty of penalty minutes, and leading the way for them in that category is Owen Barker, Jarrett Davis, and Ben McIntosh. After last night’s loss, Frank Scigliano is now 6-3 in this postseason with a 9.03 goals against average and a .819 save percentage.

Tickets for Game Five can be purchased at www.victoriashamrocks.com, The Q Centre starting at 11am, calling 250-478-ROCK (7625) and at the team store located at #120-967 Langford Parkway.

 

Live game stats: http://www.victoriashamrocks.com/stats/game//307/league/86019

Shamrocks playoff stats: http://www.wlalacrosse.com/stats/team/62/307/league//8071

WLA playoff leaders:http://www.wlalacrosse.com/stats/leaders?gametype=playoff

Next Game: (Away - Game 6 in best of 7 WLA Finals) Friday, Sept 2, Victoria @ Maple Ridge, 6pm, Planet Ice

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