The Armstrong Shamrocks of the Thompson Okanagan Junior Lacrosse League will open the season with an exhibition tilt against the Richmond Roadrunners Saturday, April 14 at the Nor-Val Sports Centre.
The game was arranged in February when Roadrunners’ head coach Shawn Flintoff played alongside Shamrocks coach Pat Nelson and assistant coach Ryan Nitchie at the annual Washington Stealth Masters tournament.
“This is a really great opportunity for our team to see how we measure up to the quality of lacrosse played at the Lower Mainland,” said Nelson, whose split squad team was quite impressive in the Senior Shamrocks Ice Breaker tournament.
“We have a great returning cast of players who are all very focussed and have an exceptional work ethic,” added Nelson.
The Junior Shamrocks have been bolstered by the addition of long-time Shamrock Adrien Lemaire who joins the coaching staff and has made an immediate impact.
“Adrien has brought a lot to the table in helping us define our system that we will be playing this year and is bringing lots of new ideas and tweaking our success from last season” said Nelson.
The Jr. B Roadrunners will take on the Vernon Re/Max Tigers on Sunday, April 13 (11 a.m., Wesbild Centre) to round out the exhibition weekend.
The Roadrunners defeated the New Westminster Salmonbellies and Coquitlam Adanacs before taking the Port Moody Blues to the limit before losing their only game of the season.
“Unfortunately a rash of injuries derailed our plans for a long playoff run, as the ‘Runners lost seven regulars to season- ending injuries leading up to the playoffs,” said GM Terry Rolfe.
“This year’s team has had a good pre-season camp, and the expectations are again high for the club, with a deep playoff run the goal for the 2012 season.”
The Roadrunners will bolster their lineup with some Intermediate A and B players.
