Shamrocks' Season Ends in Coquitlam as Adanacs Close Out Series in Six

The Victoria Shamrocks pushed the Coquitlam Adanacs to the final horn Tuesday night at the Poirier Sports Complex, but a three-goal hole in the third period proved to be one too many to climb out of. Coquitlam held on for an 8-7 win to take the WLA Championship Series four games to two, ending Victoria's season one win short of forcing a game seven.

The Shamrocks could hardly have started better. Zach Manns opened the scoring just 1:15 in, assisted by Marshal King and Mathieu Gautier, and after Adam Noakes tied it for Coquitlam at 7:36 off a Parker Kennedy feed, Victoria reeled off the next two. Gautier scored at 8:06 with helpers from King and Brodie Wade, and Patrick Dodds made it 3-1 on the power play at 9:54, assisted by Chris Wardle and Manns. Connor Robinson pulled the Adanacs back within one at 15:37 off a Jalen Chaster assist, only for Manns to answer 24 seconds later with helpers from Dodds and Kyle Pepper to restore the two-goal cushion at 4-2.

Then the period turned. Coquitlam scored three unanswered goals in the final 2:17, Kean Moon striking unassisted at 17:37, Eli Salama tying it ten seconds later off a Riley Isaacs feed, and Noakes burying his second of the night at 19:54, assisted by Moon, with six seconds left in the frame. A period Victoria had controlled for 17 minutes ended with the Shamrocks trailing 5-4.

The second period produced just one goal, and it went to the Adanacs. Robinson scored his second of the night on the power play at 11:42, assisted by Noakes, to make it 6-4. Chris Origlieri held the fort at the other end, and Victoria took its timeout 47 seconds into the third looking for a spark.

Gautier provided it, scoring at 4:36 off a King assist to cut the deficit to 6-5. Coquitlam answered with two of its own, Kennedy scoring at 8:13 with helpers from Moon and Noakes and Moon adding his second at 9:35 off an Isaacs feed to push the lead to 8-5. With just under nine minutes to work with, the Shamrocks nearly pulled it off. Gautier completed his hat trick at 11:03, assisted by Manns and King, and Manns finished his own hat trick 32 seconds later at 11:35 with King and Gautier drawing the assists, closing the gap to 8-7 with 8:25 on the clock. Victoria pulled Origlieri for an extra attacker in the final minute, but Christian Del Bianco and the Coquitlam defence turned away everything the Shamrocks sent at the net the rest of the way.

Del Bianco was named the game's first star after stopping 40 of 47 shots, capping a series in which he was a problem for Victoria from start to finish. Gautier took second-star honours with three goals and two assists, and Moon rounded out the stars with two goals and two assists for Coquitlam. Manns matched Gautier with three goals and two assists of his own and led all shooters with 13 shots on net, while captain Marshal King finished with five assists, a hand in five of Victoria's seven goals. Origlieri made 35 saves on 43 shots. Tyrell Hamer-Jackson was outstanding at the dot for the Shamrocks, winning 16 of his 18 faceoffs, and Victoria out-shot Coquitlam 47-43 on the night.

It's a hard way to end a season that had so much in it. The Shamrocks battled through a championship series against the WLA's best, staved off elimination at The Q Centre on Sunday, and came within a goal of forcing a seventh game on the road. The club thanks everyone who packed The Q Centre this summer, filled the building to standing room in game three, and followed the team across the province — that support was felt all year, and it's what the Shamrocks will build on heading into 2027.

The Adanacs now travel to Ontario to represent the West in the Mann Cup, where they'll meet either the Six Nations Chiefs or the Peterborough Lakers for the national senior championship.