Nass wins it with 4.8 second left for Shamrocks

Written by Justis Doucet

Victoria - For the first time in two hundred and sixty days, WLA lacrosse was back at The Q Centre as the Victoria Shamrocks kicked off their 68th season with a home date against the Langley Thunder.

It took over twelve minutes for either team to find the back of the net, but it was the visitors who tickled the twine first. JP Kealey scored at 7:28 of the first, but Victoria won the following face off, ran the floor and tied the game. Casey Jackson evened the score just seven seconds after Langley took the lead. Mike Triolo his first as a Shamrock, then added another for good measure, in the periods final minutes to extend Victoria’s lead to 3-1 after twenty minutes. 2017 fifth round pick Cody Nass assisted on Victoria’s third goal collecting his first WLA point.

Nass picked up where he left off in the first, scoring his first career goal just over two minutes into the second after a Cole Pickup shot bounced off the end boards. Langley would respond with a pair of their own. First Bryce Brochu made it 4-2, then Justin Martin scored on a shorthanded breakaway to trim the Victoria lead to 4-3. Casey Jackson responded with his second of the night on the power play to re-instate the two goal lead. Steve Higgs chipped in just moments later and the lead was back to three. James Rahe brought the visitors back in with a power play goal picking the top corner short side. Cole Pickup made it 7-4 before Langley scored four straight in the second to make it 8-7 after forty minutes. Goals for, Brett Dobray, James Rahe, and a pair for JP Kealey who finished off the hat trick put the visitors ahead.

Neither team was able to find the back of the net in the first half of the third, but not for a lack of opportunities. Victoria captain Corey Small tied the game on the power play with 8:44 remaining, beating the Langley netminder Davide DiRuscio from up top. Small wasn’t done there, scoring the go-ahead marker just three minutes later for his second of the night. The lead was short lived, as just two minutes after that Bryce Brochu tied the game for the Thunder, sending it into the final three minutes deadlocked at nine. With twenty-one seconds left, Victoria grabbed their own rebound in the offensive zone and called timeout. With the shot clock turned off, the Shamrocks worked the clock down and Cody Nass collected a bouncing ball off the end board and deposited it into the yawning cage with 4.8 seconds left to win it 10-9. Nass in his WLA debut scored two goals and added four assists for first star honours.

Complete Game Stats: http://westernlacrosse.wttstats.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=3102236

Victoria Shamrocks player stats: http://westernlacrosse.wttstats.pointstreak.com/teamplayerstats.html?teamid=31984&seasonid=17042

Video Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dV4dcmbvqkc&feature=youtu.be

Game Photos (credit Jay Wallace): https://www.dropbox.com/sh/u5haq9wqx3g55wr/AADV-RGPzRAEjz6faiIdvrsqa?dl=0

Next Game: Home May 26th @ 7:00pm vs Burnaby Lakers presented by Westshore Dental @ The Q Centre