Victoria Shamrocks focusing on one win at a time heading to New Westminster on Sunday for Game 5

Victoria Shamrocks at New Westminster Salmonbellies Game 5 preview

Sunday August 27th, 6pm, Queen’s Park arena

New Westminster leads WLA Finals series 3-1

Written by Justis Doucet

Victoria will look to carry some momentum from a thrilling third period comeback in game four, where they erased a four goal Salmonbellies lead in the final twenty, including Rhys Duch’s game tying shorthanded goal with just nineteen seconds left.

The Shamrocks are more than capable of winning on the road, and bringing the series back to the island, they won twice in Burnaby against the top-seeded Lakers in the opening round, including their only previous do-or-die contest, an 8-7 game seven win. They also won at Queens Park Arena back at the start of the regular season, a 5-4 goaltending duel.

Both teams have had their best players be their best players in the postseason, New Westminster’s Mitch Jones leads the league in playoff points with forty-nine, just ahead of Corey Small’s forty-three. Casey Jackson rounds out the top five with thirty-two points in his eleven games. Aaron Bold stopped fourteen of the final fifteen shots he saw, shutting out the Salmonbellies in the third.

The Shamrocks will look to re-kindle that power-play success they saw in the regular season in forcing a game six, Victoria went 1 for 4 on the man advantage in game four and is sitting just under twenty-seven percent for the playoffs, compared to nearly forty-four percent in the regular season, which was far and away the best number in the league. A win Sunday would mean the scene shifts back to Victoria for game six on Tuesday. 

Watch: Live on Pay Per View at http://wlalacrosse.com/view/wla/wla-tv

Live game stats: http://westernlacrosse.wttstats.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=3176450

Playoff stats: http://westernlacrosse.wttstats.pointstreak.com/scoringleaders.html?leagueid=258

Shamrock stats: http://westernlacrosse.wttstats.pointstreak.com/teamplayerstats.html?teamid=673543&seasonid=17341

Next game (HOME): Game 6, Tuesday August 29, 6pm at Victoria, The Q Centre