Shamrocks and Salmonbellies tie in overtime thriller on Friday night

For immediate release, June 16, 2017

New Westminster Salmonbellies 12 at Victoria Shamrocks 12

Shamrocks and Salmonbellies tie in overtime thriller

Written by Justis Doucet

Victoria - The Victoria Shamrocks and New Westminster Salmonbellies faced off for the second time in two weeks and for the only time in the BC Capital of the three-game set. The Shamrocks left the Queen City with a 5-4 win in the first meeting between the teams, behind a forty-five save effort from Cody Hagedorn.

This time it was Aaron Bold getting the start in goal, his first appearance of the season after falling in the NLL Final last weekend and was sharp early. Victoria held the league’s top power play headed into Friday and it showed, they scored on all of three of their first-period power plays, then added another at even strength. Corey Small, Cole Pickup, Matt Hamilton and Casey Jackson tallied the first period goals, with Jackson’s coming five-on-five. New Westminster scored a pair of goals in the final minute of the period to trim the deficit to 4-3 after the first period. The teams went a combined five for five on the power play in the first as New Westminster also scored on both of their opportunities. Bold made nineteen saves in the Victoria goal, while Alexis Buque stopped eleven of the fifteen shots he saw.

New Westminster tied the game early in the second before Victoria answered with a pair of goals in under two minutes. Cody Nass gave the ‘Rocks the lead and Greg Harnett shorthanded made it 6-4. The Salmonbellies then rattled off five straight goals to turn a 6-4 deficit into a 9-6 lead. Casey Jackson stopped the run with his second of the game to bring Victoria back within two. It was a spirited second period with a pair of fights in the first three minutes. Ben McCullough and Mike Messenger squared off at 1:50, then Steve Priolo dropped the gloves with Shayne Bennett. Victoria got out of the five-minute power play allowing just one goal and scoring one of their own. Cody Hagedorn came into the game for just over a minute and stopped two of three shots before Bold returned to the Shamrocks crease. New Westminster outshot Victoria 22-17 in the period.

The Salmonbellies extended their lead in the third period, scoring the first two goals of the frame to make it 11-7. Victoria, however, dug deep to tie the game at 11. Corey Small started the run at 8:19, then Jake Archdekin scored on a breakaway a minute later, then Josh Fagan from outside, and finally at 17:23, in his debut, defender Tyler Hass broke free and tied it on a rush. Victoria controlled the latter half of the third period but New Westminster still had a chance after calling a timeout with just over twenty seconds left and the shot clock turned off. Victoria forced them into a bad shot which ricocheted off the back wall onto the back of the net where Aaron Bold trapped it and held onto it as time expired. For the first time in the young season, Victoria was off to overtime.

The Shamrocks killed an early penalty in the extra session then drew a power play of their own. Josh Fagan scored his second of the night on a nice passing play to give Victoria a 12-11 lead, their first in the game since it was 6-4. New Westminster answered in the form of Zach Herreweyers, who scored his fourth of the game to tie it at twelve with just over two minutes left. The game ended in a tie, the first for the Shamrocks since 2014 when they had two. Aaron Bold finished strong with fifty-seven saves on sixty-nine shots, while Victoria scored their twelve on sixty shots. Tyler Nass was given third-star honours, Casey Jackson had two goals and three assists and was named the first star. New Westminster’s Herreweyers was the second star with four goals. Victoria improved their already league-best power play, scoring on six of eight man advantages.

Complete Game Stats: http://westernlacrosse.stats.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=3102256

Victoria Shamrocks player stats: http://bit.ly/2qAWxOo

Video Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYBlKEXZFB4&feature=youtu.be

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

Next Game: Away, June 18th, 7:00pm @ Nanaimo Timbermen, Frank Crane arena (Available on PPV)

Next Home Game: June 23rd at 7:30pm vs Maple Ridge Burrards, Alumni night presented by Jenner Chevrolet GMC with tailgate before the game and another Shamrocks jersey gets retired, The Q Centre, Tickets at www.victoriashamrocks.com or 250-478-7625.