The Victoria Shamrocks (10-4-1) officially secured a playoff position with a win over their Island rivals.
The ‘Rocks completed a season sweep of the Nanaimo Timbermen (4-9-1) with a 10-7 road victory, which also vaulted the club into first place in the Western Lacrosse Association.
Nanaimo played some of their strongest lacrosse in the game’s opening 13 minutes while jumping out to a modest 3-2 advantage.
Three Shamrocks goals within a minute, beginning with Joe Resteratis’s second of the night at 17:05, gave the home side a two-goal advantage late in the opening frame.
Nanaimo scored three of the next four goals to tie the game heading into the third, but it was all Shamrocks from there.
Corey Small scored two while Chris Wardle and Sheldon Burns chipped in with a goal apiece as the Shamrocks went on a 4-0 run in the third period to put the game away.
Jake Cullen brightened the score a touch for Nanaimo with just 10 seconds left to complete the scoring.
Aaron Bold made 48 saves in the Shamrocks’ net. Small led the club in scoring with three goals and three assists.
A night earlier the Shamrocks throttled the Coquitlam Adanacs at The Q Centre by a 10-2 score.
Playing in just his fourth game of the season, Rhys Duch led all Victoria scorers with five points as the ‘Rocks got scoring contributions from up and down their lineup. Bold made a dazzling 42 saves on 44 shots for his best statistical night of the season.
The Maple Ridge Burrards sit a point back of the first-place Shamrocks with a game in hand.
The ‘Rocks will travel to face the third-place Burnaby Lakers on Friday for their only game of the week.
joel.tansey@goldstreamgazette.com
Twitter: @joelgazette
