Both teams are hot like the weather.
The Vernon Sun Valley Source For Sports Tigers visit the Armstrong Shamrocks in Thompson Okanagan Junior Lacrosse League action tonight. Game time is 7:30 at the Nor-Val Sports Centre.
Vernon has won both regular season meetings thus far, and the arch-rivals are each coming off impressive weekend wins.
The Tigers thumped the visiting Kelowna Raiders 12-5 Saturday, while the Shamrocks got by the Kamloops Venom 8-6 in a neutral site game Friday in Salmon Arm. Vernon is 10-0.
With the Tigers playing the Raiders for a third straight time, and fourth time in five games, Saturday’s contest had a playoff feel.
Tempers flared near the final whistle.
“It gets really rowdy and rough against this team and it’s nice when the games are broken up,” said second star Quintin Harrish, Tigers forward, who had 4+1. “This was, essentially, a three-game series that just ended. We came out victorious but it was getting ugly by the end of it.”
Kelowna opened a 2-0 lead before Harrish got Vernon on the board and Sean Connors tied up the game at 11:27 of the opening period.
A fight between the Tigers’ Steele Pelletier and Kelowna’s Tristan Bright provided a spark for Vernon as Pelletier scored a knockout and Bright received a major and game misconduct for instigating the bout.
The Tigers scored the next four goals before Kelowna rallied with a deuce of its own as Vernon led 6-4 after one.
Vernon then scored the game’s next six goals before the Raiders scored a powerplay marker late in the contest.
First star Ryan Sarazin had 3+5 for the Tigers, Pelletier added a pair while singles went to Jay Seaton and midget call-up Stephane Richard.
Third star Aaron Jensen made 49 saves as the Tigers outshot Kelowna (0-8-1) 55-54 to keep their perfect season in tact.
“We’re taking things game-by-game,” said Harrish. “We’re not looking too far into the future. We’re going to come out every game playing our hardest.”
It was the Tigers’ third straight win with assistant coach Tyler Plante running the bench (head coach Chris Scabar was away with his son’s team at a tournament in the Lower Mainland).
The Shamrocks moved to within a point of the third-place Venom Friday, erasing a 3-1 first-period deficit in Salmon Arm with a five-goal explosion in the middle frame for a second-straight league win.
“It was not a bad game,” said Armstrong assistant coach Chad Pieper. “They (Kamloops) had a short bench and started running out of gas. Our guys calmed down. Half of our roster is from Salmon Arm so there were lots of family and friends in the stands.
“It was loud. Shuswap Minor Lacrosse did a great job getting the kids out. It was a good turnout.”
Joel Castle had 2+2 for Armstrong (4-6-0), who played without leading scorer Owen Barker (serving a one-game suspension). Keith Minnis also chipped in a deuce. Singles went to Brayden Hoggarth, Kaden Sagh, Liam Drabiuk and Sam Hanley.
Cole Macfarlane made 30 saves in goal for the Shamrocks.
Jerome Thorne led Kamloops (4-4-1) with 3+2 while Riley Peterson had five helpers.
The Tigers scored the next four goals before Kelowna rallied with a deuce of its own as Vernon led 6-4 after one.
Vernon then scored the game’s next six goals before the Raiders scored a late powerplay marker.
First star Ryan Sarazin had 3+5 for the Tigers, Pelletier added a pair while singles went to Jay Seaton and midget call-up Stephane Richard.
Third star Aaron Jensen made 49 saves as the Tigers outshot Kelowna 55-54 to keep their perfect season in tact. The Raiders are 0-8-1.
“We’re taking things game-by-game,” said Harrish. “We’re not looking too far into the future. We’re going to come out every game playing our hardest.”
It was the Tigers’ third straight win with assistant coach Tyler Plante running the bench (head coach Chris Scabar was away with his son’s team at a tournament in the Lower Mainland).
The Shamrocks moved to within a point of the third-place Venom Friday, erasing a 3-1 first-period deficit in Salmon Arm with a five-goal explosion in the middle frame for a second-straight league win.
“It was not a bad game,” said Armstrong assistant coach Chad Pieper. “They (Kamloops) had a short bench and started running out of gas. Our guys calmed down. Half of our roster is from Salmon Arm so there were lots of family and friends in the stands.
“It was loud. Shuswap Minor Lacrosse did a great job getting the kids out. It was a good turnout.”
Joel Castle had 2+2 for Armstrong (4-6), who played without leading scorer Owen Barker (serving a one-game suspension).
Keith Minnis also chipped in a deuce. Singles went to Brayden Hoggarth, Kaden Sagh, Liam Drabiuk and Sam Hanley. Cole Macfarlane made 30 saves in goal.
Jerome Thorne led Kamloops (4-4-1) with 3+2 while Riley Peterson had five helpers.
