The Nanaimo Timbermen rose to the challenge and earned a win in their home opener.
The city’s Western Lacrosse Association club defeated the Victoria Shamrocks by a 12-9 score on Saturday at Frank Crane Arena.
Kaleb Toth, coach of the senior A T-men, said his team did the little things right.
“I thought overall, the team played great,” he said. “Defensively, we limited their top guys … and offensively, I thought our guys moved the ball real well. We spread it out, we didn’t over-attack, we attacked on our opportunities.”
The game was 8-7 after two periods, but it was Nanaimo that came out in the third and went and got the win, scoring three times in the first six and a half minutes of the frame and keeping control from there.
Toth was glad to see his team score some goals; he said it was nice to see some guys who have been working hard get rewarded with their first goals of the season.
“We wanted to spread the floor out, to spread their D out and to get to the middle of the floor and that’s what we did,” the coach said.
At the other end of the floor, the defence played as a unit.
“It wasn’t one guy checking one guy and shutting him down, it was a lot of team defence,” said Toth. “And let’s not kid ourselves, [goalie Charles] Claxton made some great saves out there and he was a big part of our win.”
Chase Fraser led Nanaimo with four goals, Drew Belgrave had two and other scorers were Matt Benedict, Adam Jay, Colton Clark, Baden Boyenko, Nate Wade and Jon Phillips. Claxton made 35 saves as shots ended up 54-44 in favour of the home team.
Toth said winning against a team like the Shamrocks “gives us confidence” heading into two more road games this week.
GAME ON … The T-men visit the Burnaby Lakers on Friday, June 8, and then play the Shamrocks on the road Sunday. Next home action for the Timbermen is June 16, when the Maple Ridge Burrards are in town for a 6 p.m. game at Frank Crane Arena.
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