The Victoria Shamrocks and New Westminster Salmonbellies definitely don’t have much love for one another, as the two teams traded blows both on the floor and the scoreboard, but in the end, the game ends in a tie.
The Shamrocks got out to the early lead thanks to some great plays from captain Corey Small and young gun Cole Pickup. However, the Rocks got in some penalty trouble late in the first period and allowed the Salmonbellies to draw themselves within one goal after the first period. The two teams traded goals early on, until some questionable hits caused the gloves to come off. Ben McCollugh exchanged blows with New West’s Mike Messenger, with the New West forward scoring the takedown and getting the better of the bout. Both players were ejected. Shortly after, Shamrocks’ Steve Priolo got into it with New West’s Shayne Bennett. Priolo landed a handful of hard right hands, and left Bennett leaking as he hit the showers for the rest of the night.
The fights seemed to spark the Salmonbellies, however, as they went on a 7-1 run from then on, and took a commanding 11-7 lead into the final ten minutes of the game. However, the Shamrocks clawed their way back, scoring four unanswered to tie the game, capped off by a beautiful steal and breakaway goal by recently returning Shamrock Tyler Hass. However, the overtime period solved nothing, as the two teams traded one goal a piece to end the game in a 12-12 draw. The Shamrocks now travel to Nanaimo where they take on the Timbermen, fresh off a 10-7 win over the reigning WLA champion Maple Ridge Burrards. That game gets going underway on Sunday night at 7PM at Frank Crane Arena.
Tyler Bennett
