Jr. Shamrocks jump ahead in playoffs
A commanding lead to open the game gave the Victoria junior Shamrocks a 16-9 victory over the Nanaimo Timbermen in game 1 of the B.C. Junior Lacrosse League playoff series at Bear Mountain Arena on Tuesday night.
Victoria held leads of 7-2 and 15-6 as Karsen Leung, Jesse King and Brody Eastwood each had hat tricks. Leung tabbed four assists and King had threemore.
Luke Acton had a six point game and Jake Emms a five point game but the biggest goal by Mitch Meilleur, the first of his junior-A career.
Cory Mayzes stopped 32 of 41 shots in net.
Game 2 of the best-of-three series was in Nanaimo on Thursday.
If necessary, game 3 goes at Bear Mountain Arena at 5 p.m. on Saturday (July 16).
Eagles soar as midget-B Island lacrosse champs
The midget-B Victoria-Esquimalt Eagles lacrosse team are Island champs.
The Eagles defeated the Campbell River Ravens 7-4 on Sunday for the Island championship, a one-game affair.
It’s the final year of minor lacrosse for the 16, 16-year-old players on the team, and they’re going out in style, with a berth in the midget-B provincials in Coquitlam, July 22 to 24. The team also has five 15-year-olds.
Victoria-Esquimalt earlier swept both the Saanich Tigers and Oceanside Sharks in their best-of-three playoff series.
Graeme Bates led the Eagles past the Ravens with three goals in the final while goalie Kiefer Hagedorn was “outstanding” in net, stopping 41 shots, said coach Mark Hackwell.
“We had the lowest goals against average, and the lowest penalty minutes. We’re a very disciplined team, a class act and its been a pleasure to coach them.”
The Eagles owned a regular season record of 12 wins and two ties in 14 games, second place behind Campbell River.
Recently the Eagles went undefeated at the Penticton Barnburner midget-B tourney, defeating the Semiahmoo Rock 5-1 in the final.
The organization draws from Victoria, Esquimalt, Oak Bay and View Royal.
To support the trip to provincials the team is holding a fundraiser at M&M Meats (Fort Street and Foul Bay Road) on Saturday (July 16) from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Lacrosse provincials at West Shore, Peninsula
Four classes of bantam lacrosse (13-14) provincials are happening in Colwood, Victoria and Saanichton this weekend.
Co-hosted by the Juan de Fuca and Peninsula minor lacrosse associations, Juan de Fuca represents with one team in the six-team bantam-A1 provincials, and two more in the bantam-B provincials.
Saanich and Peninsula each have a team in the bantam-A2 provincials and Peninsula has one team in the bantam-C provincials.
Games started on Wednesday and run until Sunday at Bear Mountain Arena, Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre and Panorama Recreation Centre.
Bronze and gold medal finals start at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday, with the A1 gold final at 3:30 p.m., all at Panorama.
Shamrocks player, Waxmen field lacrosse team named to national hall of fame
For 13 years Chris Prat played a prolific junior and senior lacrosse in Victoria, and now he’s going to the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame.
Prat helped the Shamrocks to two Mann Cups, 1997 and 1999. He’s one of four being inducted as box lacrosse players.
He joins this year’s team entry, the Victoria Royal Waxmen/Seaspray. The field lacrosse club toured and played tournaments from 1980-98.
The Waxmen/Seaspray club was originally part of a five-team field lacrosse league designed to develop Canadian talent for the 1982 world championships.
The team became an unstoppable machine featuring the talents of Tom Marechek, Paul and Gary Gait, Kevin Alexander, Ron McNeil, Larry Bell and Art Webster, among others. It won 11 Canadian National Ross Cups, seven Western States Tournament titles, and three North American Brogden Cup championships.