New Westminster Salmonbellies @ Victoria Shamrocks Game Preview

New Westminster Salmonbellies @ Victoria Shamrocks Game Preview

Mascot Madness Night presented by Peninsula Co-op

Friday June 16 @ 7:30pm, The Q Centre

Shamrocks seek to continue home cooking vs Salmonbellies 

Written by Justis Doucet

Victoria - After splitting last weekend's road set, the Victoria Shamrocks sit atop the Western Lacrosse Association standings. Victoria is four points clear of both Maple Ridge and Burnaby, but by the time this weekend plays out, most teams will have a game in hand on them. The 'Rocks are 5-1 after falling in Coquitlam last Saturday, then rebounding to defeat Maple Ridge on Sunday.

Saturday's game was the second of a home and home between the Shamrocks and Adanacs, and after Victoria defended their home floor a week prior, Coquitlam did the same. Victoria showed resilience, clawing their way back into the game, and shutting out the Adanacs in the third period, but falling 7-6. The last meeting between the Salmonbellies and Shamrocks was a defensive battle, finishing 5-4 in favour of the visiting 'Rocks. Victoria shut out New Westminster 4-0 in the second period before the Salmonbellies responded outscoring Victoria 2-0 in the third, but they could not crack Cody Hagedorn for that tying goal. Both Sheldon Burns and Tristan Rai scored their first WLA goals in the win, and Chris Wardle had the game winner. Hagedorn stopped forty-five of forty-nine in the win. Speaking of the men with the big pads, Victoria has a pair of familiar names back with the team after the conclusion of the NLL Final. Aaron Bold is back in Victoria and making his debut tonight after leading the Saskatchewan Rush to a third straight NLL Final. Victoria's third goaltender Adam Shute was a member of the Champions Cup winning Georgia Swarm.

The Shamrocks have played well at both ends early in the season, they score the second most goals per game (9.67) and allow the least (7.00), good for a differential of +2.67, the best in the league. They also have the league's leading scorer in Corey Small with 13 goals, 19 assists for 32 points in six games. Victoria also gets a scoring boost from the back end as 2015 Shamrock Tyler Hass returns for his sixth season in Victoria and is making his season debut. Hass brings experience, speed and strength along with his offensive punch, in 111 games, including regular season and playoffs, he has totalled 104 points. Hass was also awarded the Bill Ellison trophy in 2014 as the MVP of the WLA playoffs.

New Westminster Salmonbellies scouting report                                                                                             

If the first meeting between these teams was any indication, lacrosse fans are in for a treat. Both teams play fast, disciplined lacrosse, and take lots of shots. New Westminster is taking just under fifty shots per game and allowing just over forty. They don't take many penalties and when they do, their penalty kill efficiency is 83%, where the league average is 68%.  The Salmonbellies do not have anyone in the WLA top ten in scoring (Victoria has three Small, Triolo, Nass), but they spread the points around with four players between spots eleven through seventeen. Mitch Jones and Logan Schuss lead the team with fifteen points each, Schuss doing so in just three games. Alexis Buque has been strong in the Salmonbellies crease although his record doesn't show it. He has started two games, allowing four goals on forty-three shots in a win, and the teams previous meeting, where he stopped thirty-four of thirty-nine.

Pay Per View: Visit victoriashamrocks.com under the Fan Zone tab

Live game stats: http://westernlacrosse.wttstats.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=3102256

Regular season stats to date: http://westernlacrosse.wttstats.pointstreak.com/scoringleaders.html?leagueid=258

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

Next game: (AWAY) Sunday June 18th Victoria Shamrocks at Nanaimo Timbermen, 7:00pm, Frank Crane arena

Next HOME game: Friday June 23rd vs Maple Ridge Burrards, 7:30pm at The Q centre. Alumni Night presented by Jenner Chevrolet GMC, Tickets at www.victoriashamrocks.com or 250-478-7625

The Shamrocks have been dominant at home so far this year, winning all three home previous home games in front of large and energetic crowds and they will look to keep that streak going after a strong showing in Maple Ridge on Sunday night as they earned a hard fought 12-10 victory.

The always popular 2017 Victoria Shamrocks player cards are also being released at Friday night’s Mascot Madness game presented by Peninsula Co-op to the first 200 fans through the doors,  The Shamrocks look to make it four straight wins at home with tickets on sale now at victoriashamrocks.com, phoning 250-478-7625 or at the team store at 967 Langford Parkway.