Shamrocks Hold Off Adanacs Rally, Take 12-8 Win at The Q Centre

The Victoria Shamrocks outlasted the Coquitlam Adanacs 12-8 on Friday night at The Q Centre, with Zach Manns' three-goal, five-point performance leading the way in front of 2,449 fans.

The two clubs traded blows early. Coquitlam struck just 25 seconds in when Adam Noakes buried a rebound off feeds from Riley Isaacs and Kean Moon, but Victoria answered less than five minutes later as Elijah Gash tied it up, with Mathieu Gautier putting the Shamrocks ahead moments after. The first period was a track meet from there — five lead changes and ties in total — with Jalen Chaster scoring twice for the Adanacs to keep pace. Manns capped the frame with a power-play marker at 19:36, giving Victoria a 6-5 edge heading to the break.

The second period is where the Shamrocks pulled away. Marshal King opened the scoring with an assist from Luke Pilcher, and although Carter Cook answered for Coquitlam, Victoria closed out the period on a four-goal run. Pilcher, Manns and Patrick Dodds all found the back of the net before Pilcher struck again on the power play, and David Charney's goal for the Adanacs late in the frame wasn't enough to stem the tide. Victoria took a commanding 11-7 lead into the third.

Things got heated in the second as well, with Remo Schenato of the Adanacs and Ari Stevens of the Shamrocks dropping the gloves for matching five-minute majors, adding to a chippy penalty count on both sides all night.

Coquitlam pushed in the third, with Charney scoring his second of the night on the power play, but Eli McLaughlin restored Victoria's four-goal cushion with a man-advantage marker of his own, and the Shamrocks closed it out 12-8.

Victoria out-scored Coquitlam 11-3 across the second and third periods combined after a 6-5 first-period edge, despite the Adanacs holding a 49-47 shot advantage on the night.

Three Stars

  1. Mathieu Gautier (Shamrocks) — 2G, 2 PTS
  2. Zach Manns (Shamrocks) — 3G, 2A, 5 PTS
  3. David Charney (Adanacs) — 2G, 3A, 5 PTS

Up Next: The Shamrocks return home to The Q Centre on Wednesday, July 22nd to host Nanaimo, with faceoff set for 6:30pm. Tickets are available now at VictoriaShamrocks.com