With golden boy Rhys Duch added to the long list of Victoria Shamrocks attackers, questions were starting to arise about who would play defence.
Answers came Thursday as Victoria's historic Western Lacrosse Association team announced a trio of defenders, all with championship experience.
At 27, Scott Carnegie is the oldest of the three. He won Mann Cups in 2008 and 2009 Carnegie has also played six seasons in the National Lacrosse League with the Calgary Roughnecks, where he was part of the NLL championship in 2009.
The other two are coming off 2013 NLL champion Rochester Knighthawks are joining the Shamrocks as well. Dylan Evans, 25, and Tyler Burton, 24, both won their second straight NLL championship with Rochester this year. The two were also teammates on the 2011 Mann Cup champion Brampton Excelsiors team.
“The additions of Scott, Dylan and Tyler really help bolster our back end,” said Shamrocks general manager Chris Welch.
“Between them they bring nine championship rings into our group."
All three defenders are expected to be in the Shamrocks lineup for the season opener Friday (May 17) against the Coquitlam Adanacs.
Game time is 7:45 p.m. at Bear Mountain Arena. Tailgate party starts outside at 6 p.m. with the first 400 fans receiving a free burger and the first 200 kids will receive a poster.
Duch won't be back yet but will be soon. After time away to play the field version of the game in the Major Lacrosse League Duch, a Spectrum Community school grad, is returning to the Shamrocks.
Duch won’t be available for the entire season as he will also play for the MLL Hamilton Nationals. He also lives and works in Calgary. Duch will be fully available come playoff time, however.
“That was the only stumbling block along the way,” said Shamrocks GM Chris Welch.
The only exception is if the Nationals reach the MLL championship weekend.
In 72 playoff and regular season games with the Shamrocks, Duch has 152 goals and 171 assists for 323 points.
The Shamrocks WLA home opener is today (May 17) against the Coquitlam Adanacs. Tailgate party starts at 6 p.m. at Bear Mountain Arena, faceoff at 7:45 p.m.