Jarrett Medhurst fired four goals as the Armstrong Shamrocks stuffed the Kamloops Rattlers 9-5 in Game 1 of their Shaw Cup Senior C men’s lacrosse playoff semifinal Wednesday night at Nor-Val Sports Centre.
“Our team was a little banged up going in, however the guys played with a lot of heart and earned a lot of respect from me tonight,” said Armstrong head coach Glenn (Stumpy) Mitchell.
The teams go at it again tonight (8:00) in Kamloops at Memorial Arena. If necessary, Game 3 would go same time Sunday night in Armstrong.
Medhurst’s teammates had barely settled onto the bench when he jumpstarted the Armstrong attack at the 14-second mark.
Kamloops replied when Russ McIntosh cut across the top and found the net on a behind-the-back shot. Darren Kirby put the Rocks ahead on a solo effort, bulling his way to the net to put one by keeper Mike Smith.
Goals by Medurst and Kamloops’ JJ Woldum, going shortside with just seconds on the clock, made it 3-2 at the break.
The Rattlers equalized on a Woldum powerplay tally three minutes into the second frame, but the Rocks surged ahead again as netminder Chad Pieper delivered a long pass to Jamie Cockerill for a shorthanded strike.
Consecutive goals by Medhurst and a single from Milan Marcetta extended the host’s lead, but Kamloops came back on a seeing eye shot by Liam Hagerty.
Kamloops switched goalies before the break, only to have Cockerhill welcome relief goalie Stu Ford with his second goal of the night.
Singles by Kamloops’ Nate Woldum and Marcetta capped the scoring in the third period.
Mitchell credited the Burton boys, Sam and Luke, for their best games of the year on defence, saying: “It’s their rookie year and they have both came a long way since the start of the year. We will need another good team effort on Friday if we want to win the series.”
Kamloops outshot Armstrong 44-41, while the Rocks took 28 penalty minutes to the Rattlers’ eight.
Meanwhile, the Vernon Tigers visited the Kelowna Raiders for Game 1 of their semifinal series Thursday night at Memorial Arena.
Game 2 of that series returns to Wesbild Saturday night (7:30).
