The Armstrong Shamrocks grounded Vernon Re/Max Tigers 11-7 in Thompson Okanagan Junior Lacrosse League play Saturday night at Wesbild Centre.
The Tigers opened the scoring just seconds into their home opener when Jordan Orr picked up a loose ball and scored on a partial breakaway. Vernon went up 2-0 on the powerplay when Nolan Frame bounced a weak dribbler that fooled Shamrocks’ goalie Cole MacFarlane.
The Shamrocks stormed back in the second half of the period when slick Brett Hawrys scored his first of four on the night, followed shortly by a beautiful goal from rookie Kyle Versteeg, who cut behind the net, received a pass and reached around to register his first Shamrock snipe.
Willy Hanley potted his first of three on the night, on the powerplay, to give the Shamrocks a 3-2 lead heading into the second period.
The baby Rocks came out smoking in the second, potting three quick goals during special teams play by Owen Barker, Hawrys and Hanley, to go up by four.
The Tigers mounted a comeback late in the period which ended 6-5 Shamrocks.
Armstrong’s short-man unit was exceptional, killing off a five-minute major assessed to Barker for high sticking, as well as several minors for slashing, relinquishing only one goal thanks to the stellar play of MacFarlane.
The Tigers equalized at 7-7 early in the third and Shamrocks’ bench boss Pat Nelson called a timeout to regroup his troops. The strategy worked as the Irish used intense defence and a potent powerplay, led by rookie Keith Minnis (two goals), to notch four unanswered goals.
“This was a great character win for our team,” said Nelson. “We didn’t panic when Vernon pushed back. We just stuck to our system and played hard to earn the win.
“We had a lot of opportunities offensively during the game and kept hitting posts or just missing the net and we just weren’t getting the lucky bounces, but we didn’t lose focus and I was very pleased with the way the guys persevered.”
Hawrys finished with 4+3, while Barker earned 1+6 for the Rocks. MacFarlane, Joel Castle and Sheldon Nelson each supplied two assists.
Nolan Frame bagged two goals for the Cats, while Ryan Landels provided 1+3. Other goals came from Liam MacPhee, Craig Bigsby, Orr and Ryan Sarazin. Brett Hanna had two helpers.
“Armstrong deserved the win as they played a 60-minute game and capitalized on our mistakes,” said Tigers’ head coach Myles Brumpton. “We, on the other hand, only played about 40 minutes of lacrosse that was pieced together over the span of the game.”
Brumpton said the Tigers’ powerplay, which went a woeful one-for-nine, needs work.
“We did take some positives away from the game, which was that our scoring was spread out amongst six players. Our fitness level is there as the game had a great pace to it with no team edging out the other. As coach Keith Hanna noted to players in last night’s practice ‘all our mistakes are fixable.’”
Matt Kolb of the Tigers and Brayden Bridge exchanged some bombs in a spirited scrap which saw Bridge trying for the late takedown.
Vernon outshot Armstrong 56-52 and took 37 penalty minutes to the Rocks’ 36.
The Junior Rocks face the defending champion Kelowna Raiders Thursday night at Memorial Arena before their Friday, May 11 home opener against the Tigers.
Vernon hosts the South Okanagan Flames Saturday night (7:30) at Wesbild Centre.
