The Kamloops Venom ambushed the Armstrong Shamrocks 14-8 in Thompson Okanagan Junior Lacrosse League action Friday night at the Shaw Centre in Salmon Arm.
Shamrocks’ assistant coach Jeff Hanley hopes for more games in Salmon Arm.
“We definitely will be back. The people treated us great and we had a bunch of fans come out,” said Hanley.
“It was pretty cool to see the turnout. It’s nice to know that people still like to come out to games,” said Shamrocks’ assistant captain Drew Hassard.
Hassard was a member of the Shuswap Midget Outlaws along with current Rock Keith Minnis.
The Rocks called up four players from the Outlaws Friday night.
The Shamrocks are trying to develop a pipeline for minor league players in Salmon Arm.
“We don’t have as many minor league guys coming to us from that area as we used to. Hopefully these games will start to build that up,” said Hanley.
Armstrong got off to a great start in their home away from home. The nine-day layoff seemed to rejuvenate the Rocks’, as they led the first-place Venom 6-5 after two periods.
“We came out really great. We controlled the ball a lot, our possession time was good,” said Hanley.
Sam Hanley sniped four goals for the Rocks (3-0-4), while Logan Mostat, Joel Castle, Austin Williamson and Minnis added singles.
The Venom (6-0-0) were led by Brady Jorgensen’s five goals and two assists. He recorded three in Kamloops’s nine-goal third period.
“We fell apart halfway through the second. Our legs gave out and we didn’t win any battles to loose balls or grab any rebounds. Kamloops was able to take advantage of that,” said Logan.
The Venom edged the Shamrocks 8-7 on April 25 in Armstrong.
“I think we played better last night than we did the first time we played them. Despite the score, the game was a lot tighter,” said Hanley. “It was good to see that we are competitive with the top team in the league.”
The Shamrocks’ leading scorer Cam Nelson, was held in check most of the night. The captain was quiet with two assists, while Mostat and Brody Berg also added a pair of helpers.
The Shamrocks will battle the Vernon Tigers (4-0-1) in the Tigers’ home opener next Saturday at Kal Tire Place.
The Tigers played the Venom Saturday night at Memorial Arena in Kamloops.
