Shamrocks Stumble Against Burrards, Lose 9-7

Written by Ian McNaughton

August 21, 2018

Victoria, BC – Tuesday seemed to drag on for the paid attendance of 1,614 at The Q Centre who watched their beloved Victoria Shamrocks fall to the Maple Ridge Burrards by a score of 9-7. With the Burrards winning Game #3, the Shamrocks find themselves in a 2-1 deficit in the finals with Game #4 going down in Maple Ridge on Thursday at Cam Neely Arena. 

The Shamrocks did not look like themselves for much of this game with the Burrards dominating from beginning to end. The first period was all Maple Ridge, who outnumbered the Shamrocks on the scoreboard and the shot total. The Shamrocks didn’t even score in the first period, falling behind 3-0 after the first 20 minutes. Burrards forward Ben McIntosh made his presence felt early as he scored all three of those first period goals for Maple Ridge - his first hat-trick since August 6th at New Westminster. 

The second period was an improvement for the Shamrocks, who managed to score 4 goals in the second with 3 coming while shorthanded. Unfortunately, the Burrards had an answer for everything that the Shamrocks threw at them, scoring 4 goals themselves in the period. This time it was Curtis Dickson one-upping McIntosh as he scored 4 goals in the period including 2 on the power play. The Shamrocks had to make a change to try and recover some momentum which resulted in a switch at goalie with Cody Hagedorn taking over for Adam Shute after Shute gave up his 5th goal in the game. 

While the Shamrocks outscored Maple Ridge 3-2 and outshot them 16-12 in the third period, it just wasn’t enough to get past the Burrards. Maple Ridge has won the last two games and now the Shamrocks find themselves trailing a series for the first time since Game #1 of their semi-final series with Nanaimo last round. The Burrards win also gives them a record of 6-1 in the postseason with Game #1 of the finals being their lone loss. 

From the scoring point of view, it was a respectable night for Shamrocks players. Jesse King had 1 goal with 5 assists while reaching the 30 point mark in the postseason. Rhys Duch registered a hat-trick for the third time in the playoffs. He has scored a goal in every game he’s played in since June 3rd. This was Cody Hagedorn’s first appearance since July 29 against New Westminster. Hagedorn made 16 saves on 20 shots in 30 minutes in his relief appearance. 

Victoria will travel to the mainland to take on Maple Ridge Thursday in Game #4 of the WLA Finals. Fans cans see that game here.  The Shamrocks will then travel back home to host Game #5 at The Q Centre on Saturday night. If you haven’t got your tickets yet, you can purchase them online here. We can’t wait to see you at the game Shamrocks Nation!