The Vernon Source For Sports Tigers put on a special teams clinic Saturday night at Wesbild Centre.
The Cats went 8-for-14 on the powerplay and added two more shorthanded goals in an 11-6 Thompson Okanagan Junior Lacrosse League win over the Armstrong Shamrocks.
“Solid performance by the boys,” said head coach Myles Brumpton, noting the Tigers were also 73 per cent on the penalty kill.
“They ran through our systems seamlessly. We won most of the loose ball battles and when we had possession we made good work with it.”
Ryan Sarazin showed great precision from the top of the circle in collecting four goals for Vernon (2-1), who held period leads of 4-1 and 10-2.
Rookie Liam Drabiuk hustled for 2+3, veteran Craig Bigsby pocketed a pair on the man advantage, Jordan Orr supplied 1+2 and Liam MacPhee netted a third-period shorty, assisted by Austin Lewarne. Shifty Jay Seaton added three assists.
Stephen Ringdal had 3+1 for the 1-4 Irish, who got singles from Adam New, Joel Castle and Conor Payne. Willy Hanley had three assists and Sam Hanley had two.
Armstrong head coach Bryan Cope said the non-stop penalties kept the Rocks from finding their rhythm.
“We deserved a lot of penalties, but there was no flow to the game,” he said.
“You can’t run the system when you’re shorthanded all the time. And with the guns they’ve got you don’t want to give them opportunities.”
Joel Fruncillo recorded 36 saves for the win. Cole McFarlane made 35 stops for Armstrong.
Armstrong hosts the undefeated Kelowna Raiders (5-0) Friday night at Nor-Val Sports Centre. The Tigers entertain the South Okanagan Flames (1-1) Saturday at Wesbild.
Meanwhile, Shamrock grad Brett Hawrys pocketed two goals and three assists as the host Nanaimo Timbermen opened the B.C. Junior A weekend with a 15-14 overtime loss to the Delta Islanders Saturday at Oceanside Place Arena.
Owen Barker, another Armstrong product, earned five minors and then fought Riley McLeod with 32 seconds left in regulation.
Barker netted a powerplay goal before being tossed early in the third period in the Timbermen’s 16-4 loss to the New Westminster Salmonbellies Sunday at Queen’s Park Arena.
Hawrys, who is fifth in league scoring with 5-7-12 in three games, collected two assists. He is one point ahead of Vernon’s Ryan Landels, who has 10-2-12 in two games with the Port Coquitlam Saints.
Barker leads the league in penalty minutes with 56, more than double the next nearest player (Trenton Matsuzaki of the Burnaby Lakers has 22 PIM).
