Nolan Frame exploded for a second-period hat trick as the Vernon Tigers iced the Kamloops Rattlers 10-3 in Thompson Okanagan Junior Lacrosse League play Saturday night at Wesbild Centre.
The Tigers, backstopped by a 37-save performance by Josh Point, raced out to an early lead on a pair of goals by Riley Soleway.
“We were pleased with the win as the Rattlers were hungry to get their first win of the season and one of our goals heading in was to ensure their first win wasn’t against us,” said Tigers’ head coach Myles Brumpton.
“Defensively, the boys threw up a wall the entire game only allowing two goals in the second and one goal in the third.”
Brumpton said it was a very physical match, with players ejected from both sides and 88 minutes in penalties in total. Special teams factored in Vernon’s success as they operated at 85 per cent on the penalty kill and went 50 per cent on the powerplay.
The Tigers, now 3-0, used two more goals from Frame and singles from Matt Kolb, Brendan Plante and Craig Bigsby to close out the game.
The 1-4 Rattlers, who rebounded with a 10-5 win over the Kelowna Raiders Sunday, got offence from Brady Jorgensen (2) and Russ McIntosh.
The Tigers host the Kamloops Venom tonight (7:30 p.m.) at Wesbild Centre.
In other TOJLL action, the Armstrong Shamrocks earned a pair of weekend wins to improve to 2-2-1.
The baby Rocks started by upending the defending champion Venom 7-4 Saturday at Memorial Arena.
Armstrong jumped out to a 3-2 lead on goals by Owen Barker, Brett Hawrys and Cullen Rowan, who scored a nice crease goal on the powerplay.
The two teams traded goals in the second, with Barker notching his second of four goals on the night.
Quinn Braybrook shut the door on the Venom in the third period to seal the win.
Shamrocks’ assistant coach Glenn (Stumpy) Mitchell was pleased with Armstrong’s commitment team defence.
“It was nice to play a solid defensive game against one of the top offensive teams in the league,” said Mitchell. “We shut down their shooters with a lot of on-the-ball pressure and when they tried to come inside we made them pay.”
The Rocks gave up an early goal against the host South Okanagan Flames Monday night, but rallied with four unanswered goals on the way to a 7-5 win in Penticton.
Goals by captain Milan Marcetta, with a rope-ripping shot low, Hawrys, on a partial breakaway, Rowan, using an inside power move, and Barker, with a behind-the-back fake, gave the Rocks a 4-1 lead after the first period.
The Shamrocks took some untimely penalties in the second period, but managed to kill off a 5-on-3 before Joel Castle cashed in a juicy rebound. However, the Flames rallied with three goals to trail 5-4 after two periods.
Marcetta potted his second of the night with five minutes to play, then set up Willy Hanley for an insurance marker late in the game.
Head coach Pat Nelson was pleased with the way his team played for two periods.
“We totally outchanced them and used our hustle and stick skills to get loose balls. We have to give credit to their goalie because we should have scored eight or 10 more goals tonight.”
Added Marcetta: “We are a good team with good skills and we played really hard in the third, they play really physical, but we used our speed and sticks to beat them tonight.”
Rocks’ netminder Cole MacFarlane earned his first junior win, turning aside more than 40 shots and making some clutch saves late in the game.
The Rocks host the league-leading Kelowna Raiders Thursday night (7:30) at Nor-Val Sports Centre.
Doughty leads Legends to draw
The North Okanagan Baron Insurance Legends settled for a 6-6 draw with Kelowna Kodiaks in minor lacrosse action Saturday.
After winning the opening faceoff, it took Kayden Doughty just eight seconds to put the Legends on the board. He scored two more times for the hat rick, while Liam Cyr, Jacob Brewer-Sherriff and Tanner Wright added singles in support of Randall Toop, who was outstanding in goal.
On Sunday, the Legends fell 15-3 to the Penticton Heat at the Nor-Val Centre in Armstrong.
The hard-hitting Legends got two goals from Quin Williamson and a single from Jacob Brewer-Sherriff.
