On Friday night the undefeated Victoria Shamrocks faced off against the Burnaby Lakers. The Shamrocks heading into their game had beaten every team in the WLA aside from the Lakers. The Lakers, on the other hand, were looking to hand the Shamrocks their first loss.
The first 10 minutes of this game started out slowly as both teams looked to gain an early advantage. The Shamrocks would draw first blood shortly after the 10-minute mark as Rhys Duch found the back of the net to give the Shamrocks the 1-0 lead. The Lakers responded with a pair of goals from Tyler Digby and Ilija Gajic giving the Lakers a 2-1 lead. The two teams traded goals and the score would be 3-2 in favor of the Lakers. Corey Small coninuted his strong start to the season as he scored to tie the game at 3-3. The Lakers matched Victoria as Illija Gajic scored his second goal of the period to put the Lakers in front 4-3. The Shamrocks would tie the game with two minutes left in the first period as Rhys Duch scored his second of the game. At the end of the first period the score would be tied at 4-4.
The Shamrocks opened the second period scoring early as Duch completed his hat trick and put the Shamrocks in front 5-4. The Lakers continued to keep pace as Gajic also completed his own hat trick to tie the game at 5-5. The Shamrocks would once again regain the lead as Karsen Leung scored giving the Shamrocks a 6-5 lead. Tyler Digby scored a pair of goals to put the Lakers in front 7-6.
These two teams combined for five goals in the first five minutes of the second period. The Shamrocks would break away from the Lakers as Corey Small scored the first of three consecutive goals from the Shamrocks giving the Shamrocks the 9-7 lead. Tyler Digby scored his fourth of the game to draw the Lakers within one as the second period came to a close with the Lakers trailing 9-8.
The score would remain 9-8 for the first eight minutes of the period until Scott Jones scored for the Lakers in order to tie the game at 9-9. The Shamrocks locked up their victory as Duch scored the first of four unanswered goals for the Shamrocks putting them ahead 13-9. The Lakers would get one more goal late but they could not overcome the Shamrocks who would walk away with the 13-10 victory.
The Shamrocks won this game thanks to a masterful performance from Corey Small as he had two goals and eight assists. Small was involved in 10 of the Shamrocks 13 goals and showed that no team can shut him down as he will find a way to create offense for the Shamrocks. The Shamrocks showed tonight that no team can beat them in a shooting match as their scoring is unparalleled. The Shamrocks with their win over Burnaby solidified their place as the top team in the WLA as they have faced every team this season and stand tall with an undefeated record.
