Shamrocks Win Pushes Timbermen to the Brink

The Victoria Shamrocks came out firing in the first period and held on late for an 11-8 win over the Nanaimo Timbermen to take a three games to none series lead in the WLA semi-final.  The Shamrocks will get their first chance to wrap up the series on Monday night at Frank Crane Arena. 

The Shamrocks led 5-2 after the first and fired an impressive total of 29 shots at Timbermen goaltender Charles Claxton. 

Much like game 2 on Thursday in Nanaimo, it was the Timbermen who pushed the pace in the 2nd stanza. Not only did they outscore the Shamrocks 4-3 in the period, but they also outshot them 25-17. 

Leading 8-6 heading to the 3rd Nanaimo made things interesting when Brody Eastwood scored just: 50 seconds into the 3rd to cut the lead to one.  It stayed that way until the 13:22 mark of the 3rd when Graeme Hossack finally gave the Shamrocks a little breathing room.  Hossack would also close out the scoring with his 2nd of the night into the empty net with just 21 seconds left in regulation time. 

Jesse King had a monster night for the Shamrocks with 3 goals and 3 assists. Tyler Pace was right behind King with 1 goal and 4 assists. 

Other scorers for the Shamrocks included Connor Robinson who had a pair, while Matt Yager, Tyson Gibson, and Adrian Sorichetti scored singles. 

Peter Dubenski stopped 50 of 58 Nanaimo shots for his 3rd straight win in the series.  Dubenski now has a 6.37 GAA and a .869 save percentage in the series. 

After struggling much of game 2 with the man-advantage, the Shamrocks power play was alive and well in game 3 as they went an impressive 4 for 5 on the night. Nanaimo meanwhile was 1-4. 

Game 4 is set for 7:30 pm on Monday night at Frank Crane Arena.