The Vernon Source for Sports Tigers mauled the Armstrong Shamrocks 18-5 in Thompson Okanagan Junior Lacrosse League playoff action Thursday night at Hassen Arena.
The Tigers lead 2-0 in the best-of-five first round series. Game 3 was scheduled for Saturday night at Kal Tire Place.
“We came to play like we do every game. We started well and attended to our business,” said Tigers’ coach Keith Hanna.
The Shamrocks chose to play Game 2 at Hassen for the atmosphere.
“I thought the fans were pretty good. They kept cheering us on all night,” said Shamrocks’ head coach Brett Logan.
Tigers’ coach Wes Landels thought the cramped feel to the arena was a little homecoming-ish.
“Most of our kids grew up playing in this arena, so it wasn’t anything new to us,” said Landels.
His son, Darrell Landels, led the Tigers with five goals and two assists. He was the third star in Game 1 with two goals and two assists.
“I’m working well with my teammates right now. Connor Buick and Jay Seaton are setting me up good,” said Landels.
Ryan Sarazin pulled the hat trick while Mitchell Anderson and Buick each scored a pair. Mack Leroux scored his first goal of the season in the second period, and Bayne Bosquet, Seaton, Quintin Harrish and Steele Pelletier added singles.
“In some regards it’s good having our scorers carry us, but we need to make sure we are playing as a team and doing things right,” said Wes Landels.
The Tigers’ captain of four years, Brett Hanna, was sidelined with the flu. It was the first game he has missed in five years with the Cats.
Cole MacFarlane started between the pipes in Game 1 for the Shamrocks, but played out in Game 2 and scored four goals.
“Cole played great. We needed a guy and he has done it in the past. He scored a hat trick against the Tigers earlier in the year,” said Logan.
Joel Castle also sniped a goal for the green and white.
Shamrocks’ netminder Kalvin Davyduke made his first start since returning from a concussion, and finished with 33 saves. He was the fifth best goaltender in the regular season with a .807 save percentage and a 8.018 goals against average.
Tigers rubber-stopper Aaron Jensen played the first two periods and made 19 saves. Thomas Bella made his first appearance in the playoffs in the third and stopped six shots.
The Kamloops Venom lead the South Okanagan Flames 2-0 in the other series.
