Shamrocks Open Season with a Win Over Coquitlam

In front of a standing-room-only crowd of over 2,900 at The Q Centre Friday night, the Victoria Shamrocks opened their season with a statement win against the visiting Coquitlam Adanacs.

The Shamrocks’ defense was tested early with Ben Coghill drawing first blood for Coquitlam in the opening minutes of the contest, but after nearly four minutes of back-and-forth defense from both teams, Brenden Jamieson got all the fans on their feet with the tying goal, earning his first career WLA point. 

Rookie goaltender Adam Bland and veteran Christian Del Bianco put on a clinic for the rest of the first period, with Coquitlam scoring just two additional goals in the frame, and Jacob Hickey deciding defense was not enough for his Shamrocks debut, adding another one for the green and white.

The Shamrocks held their own through the second period, with fan favourite Cole Pickup finding the back of the net twice, but Coquitlam had no intention of going quietly as Carter Cook snuck a goal in between Pickup’s to keep the game tied. Finally in the last few minutes, Ari Stevens and Zach Manns stepped up with back-to-back goals to put the Shamrocks up 6-4 to take the lead going into the third period.

Although things got a little more physical in the third as neither team could get one past the goalies for nine-and-a-half minutes, eventually Chris Wardle opened things up and gave the Shamrocks some more breathing room with his first of the season, before taking a minor penalty for roughing, only the second penalty of the game. 

Coquitlam pulled their goalie late in the third in an attempt to shorten up the lead, but their plan backfired and Nick Preston took advantage of the empty net to extend the Shamrocks’ lead to 8-4. Patrick Dodds had the last word in tonight’s game, tallying the Shamrocks’ ninth goal, giving Victoria the 9-4 victory to open the 2026 season.

The Shamrocks are back in action on the road on Wednesday, May 27th in Langley, and will host the Thunder back at The Q Centre on Friday, May 29th. Don’t miss a minute of the action and follow the Shamrocks on the road through the webcast at WLALacrosse.com, and get your tickets for the 29th at VictoriaShamrocks.com.