The Kelowna Raiders rolled the Armstrong Shamrocks 11-5 in a precursor to the Okanagan Senior Lacrosse League final Friday night at Memorial Arena.
It was the regular season finale so both teams played a little more tentatively than normal. Nobody wanted to see any injuries or suspensions with the finals looming on Tuesday.
The Kamloops Rattlers (2-8) pulled out of the playoffs due to player shortages, so the Raiders will host the Shamrocks in Game 1 of the league final 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in Memorial Arena. Game 2 goes Friday night in Armstrong, 7:30 p.m., at the Nor-Val Sports Centre.
“It was good to get a few kinks out and work on a few things. We haven’t played in a few weeks here,” said Shamrocks’ goaltender Chad Pieper.
Armstrong received a pair of goals from Thomas Belanger, while Kriss Yargeau, Carston Schlaak and Pat Nelson added singles.
“We need to play disciplined and stay out of the penalty box. We got a good powerplay but it isn’t effective when its not on the floor,” said Pieper.
Pieper was replaced halfway through the period by Tristen Parece of the junior Kelowna Raiders.
Raiders’ runner Joe Brown bagged four goals, while Victor Weins, Luke Baily and Chris Phillips each sniped a pair and Jacob Illichman added a single.
Armstrong’s Shaun Koenig and the Raiders Devin Lorneson got involved in big dust up. Lorneson was forced to leave the game due to a bloody face.
