The Armstrong Shamrocks tried some wacky experiments of sort and opened the 2013 lacrosse season at 2-0 in the Owen Siddall Memorial Ice- Breaker at Hassen Arena.
The Irish used sniper Brett Logan in net for the last two periods of a 6-4 win over the Prince George Bandits Saturday morning. Shaun Koenig scored with a shot to the top corner for the only snipe of the first period.
Logan made his debut in net in the second period, looking a little nervous and allowing two early goals before settling down to make several big stops. Goal scorers for the Bandits were Damon Calfa and Drew Doig. Answering back for the Shamrocks were Jarrett Medhurst, and Sheldon Nelson.
Both teams swapped back-and-forth rushes in the third, with Prince George getting goals by Doig and Calfa and the Shamrock responding with goals from Hans Van Deursen, Medhurst and Koenig.
“We played well enough to win,” said Armstrong head coach Glenn (Stumpy) Mitchell. We tried a few new things on the bench today and I think Logan made some big saves for us in the third.”
Game 2 saw the Rocks rally in the third for an entertaining 10-8 victory over the Prince George Stylers before 200 fans Saturday night.
Kriss Yargeau beat Stylers’ goalie Ray Masson with a nice overhand shot to open the offence. The Stylers replied with goals by Cam Comeau and Brad Olsen. Medhurst equalized before the period break.
The Stylers pulled away in the second session with Andrew Schwab scoring three times and Chad Gratton and Olsen adding singles. The Shamrocks got goals from captain Chad Pounder, Pat Nelson, and rookie Kyle Versteeg.
Armstrong tightened things up in the third and started running the floor and controlling the play. Former Vernon Tiger Brennan Plante and Milan Marcetta each bagged a deuce, and Medhurst recorded his second of the night. Olsen beat Logan for his hat-trick goal.
Said Mitchell: “In the third period, we started to run our systems the way they should be run.”
The Thompson Okanagan season opens Friday night with the Kamloops Rattlers hosting the Kelowna Raiders at Memorial Arena. The Shamrocks get rolling for real Friday, April 26 (7:30 p.m.) against Kelowna at the Nor-Val Sports Centre.
In other Friday action at the Ice Breaker, the Maple Ridge Attack stopped Kelowna 7-5, Kamloops iced the Stylers 17-5 and the Bandits grounded the Spruce Grove Slash.
The Slash downed the Raiders, the Rattlers edged the Attack, the Raiders toppled the Stylers 8-7 in a shootout, the Rattlers slipped by the Bandits and the Slash downed the Attack.
