Shamrocks comeback falls short to suffer first loss in Coquitlam

Victoria Shamrocks 6 at Coquitlam Adanacs 7 recap

Shamrocks comeback falls short to suffer first loss in Coquitlam

Written by Justis Doucet

Coquitlam - For the second straight week, the Victoria Shamrocks and Coquitlam Adanacs faced off, this time, with a change of scenery. After a dominant 14-6 win at the Q Centre June 2nd, the scene shifted to the Coquitlam Sports Centre.

Once again it was the home side off to a quick start, Coquitlam jumped out to a 2-0 lead on goals from Matt Symes and Reid Reinholdt. A week ago Victoria scored five of the games' first six goals.  It took 19:56, but the Shamrocks would not be held off the scoreboard in the first period. Mike Triolo came off a screen and buried his fourth of the season to trim the deficit to 2-1 after twenty minutes. Victoria was unable to convert on either of their two power play chances, while Coquitlam went one for three. Victoria outshot the Adanacs 13-12 in the period.

Coquitlam opened the scoring in the second as Mike Krgovich scored under ninety seconds in. Casey Jackson responded on the power play with his second of the year to bring the 'Rocks back within one. The home side countered just a minute later as Dean Fairall put Coquitlam, up 4-2. That was the first of three straight by the Adanacs to take a 6-2 lead. Corey Small set up Cody Nass and the rookie ripped a shot past Lewis to stop the run and trim it to three. Moments later Jackson scored his second of the night to bring the 'Rocks within two. Coquitlam scored in the dying seconds of the period with the goalie pulled. Vinny Ricci was credited with the goal, officially scored at the 20:00 mark, giving the Adanacs a 7-4 lead after forty minutes. Both teams went one for two on the man advantage in the frame and took thirteen shots.

Victoria pressured hard in the first half of the third, as the Coquitlam defense bent, but didn't break. It took over eleven minutes for Victoria to trim the deficit to two in the third as Captain Corey Small scored from long distance. The goal was Small's tenth of the season, which ties him for the league lead in goals. Victoria got a chance on the power play with 3:30 left down two goals and looked to their leader once again. Small's second of the game brought the visitors within a goal with just over two minutes left. Victoria called a timeout with thirty-nine seconds left and brought Cody Hagedorn to the bench but couldn't capitalize on that possession as Coquitlam gained possession and called a timeout. Victoria couldn't muster anything else and fell to Coquitlam 7-6 for their first loss of the season. The Shamrocks outscored Coquitlam 2-0 in the third but could not find that tying goal.

Cody Hagedorn stopped twenty-eight of thirty-five shots for Victoria while Dan Lewis stopped thirty-four of forty in the win. Both teams finished two for six on the power play, and the Adanacs scored another on a six on five advantage with their goalie pulled.

Complete Game Stats: http://westernlacrosse.wttstats.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=3102250

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

Next game (Away): Sunday June 11th at Maple Ridge Burrards, 6:00pm at Planet Ice-Cam Neely arena

Next Home game: Friday June 16th vs New Westminster Salmonbellies, 7:30pm at The Q centre.  Mascot Madness Night presented by Peninsula Co-op, Tickets at HERE or 250-478-7625.