Shamrocks come up short against Maple Ridge in Game Five of WLA finals

 September 1, 2016

 

Maple Ridge Burrards 12 @ Victoria Shamrocks 8 Game Recap

 

By Lucas Wilson

Unfortunately for the Victoria Shamrocks, the road team’s success in the WLA championship continued on Wednesday night. The Maple Ridge Burrards came into the Q Centre and controlled Game Five to take it by a score of 12-8. The Burrards now hold a 3-2 lead in the WLA championship.

The first period was a tight twenty minutes of lacrosse. Riley Loewen and Rhys Duch scored early goals for their respective teams to make it 1-1. Mike Mallory gave Maple Ridge a 2-1 lead three minutes later, which would hold for almost the rest of the period. Cory Conway would add a breakaway goal with seven seconds left in the period to tie the game heading into the second.

The Burrards had a strong second period, which gave them control of the game. Early goals by Loewen, Ben McIntosh, and Dan Taylor gave the Burrards a three-goal lead. Throughout the period, Burrards goalie Frank Scigliano came up big for the Burrards, who kept their lead strong. The Shamrocks would eventually find offence with Small, Duch, and Jeff Shattler, but the Burrards depth up front proved to be too much for Adam Shute and the Shamrocks defense. The Burrards outscored the Shamrocks 6-3 in the period, and took an 8-5 lead into the third.

Small got his hat trick goal early in the third to cut the Burrards’ lead to two goals. That was as close as the Shamrocks would get. Mallory and McIntosh scored back-to-back goals to extend their lead to four. After swapping goals, McIntosh would secure the win for the Burrards with an empty-net goal.

With Game Six heading back to Maple Ridge, the Shamrocks will have to keep the road team success going to stay alive and have a chance to advance to the Mann Cup. This may be an unfamiliar position for the Shamrocks, but if any core group has the potential to come back in a series, it is this one.

STATS

Complete 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

Game highlights: https://youtu.be/xjoDtWZakZU

Next game (Away): Game 6 in best of 7 playoffs, Fri, Sept 2, 6pm, Victoria @ Maple Ridge, Planet Ice