IslandSavings Pre-Game Report: June 9

Tonight the Victoria Shamrocks celebrate the rich legacy that their alumni have created in the 73-year history of the club. In particular, the 1983 and 2003 Mann Cup teams will be represented by their captains Larry Bell and Darren Reisig at the ceremonial opening faceoff and later on another former captain Rob Desmormeaux, who won the respect of his coaches, teammates, opponents and fans with his fierce competitiveness and hard-nosed leadership, will take his rightful place on the Shamrocks Wall of Fame. Many other former Shamrocks players, coaches, trainers, and executives will be in attendance to join in the celebrations this evening. The important work of the Alumni Association under the former leadership of Walt Christianson and the current leadership of Bob Heyes will be showcased as well with the awarding of scholarships to young lacrosse players.

And there is also the matter of the game to be played tonight as the Shamrocks take on the Coquitlam Adanacs in the first meeting of the two clubs in 2023. In their last outing, the Shamrocks offense was bolstered by the return of Marshal King to the lineup and exploded for 17 goals against the Burnaby Lakers. King and his counterpart on the opposite side of the floor Tom Vaesen will look to stay hot for the Shamrocks and Cam Dunkerley will be looking to build on his strong performance after coming on in relief of Pete Dubenski last Friday night. Following the recent completion of the National Lacrosse League playoffs, the Shamrocks will wait another week for additional reinforcements to arrive.

That is not the case, however, for tonight's opponents. The Adanacs have two thirds of their coaching staff back with the return of head coach Pat Coyle and assistant coach Jason Bishop and the ever dangerous offensive threat Brett McIntyre. The Adanacs will be pushing hard for their first win of the season after starting with two consecutive losses.