The Victoria Shamrocks took the opening game of the 2013 Mann Cup finals with a 5-4 victory over the Six Nations Chiefs.
The Chiefs struck first when Kasey Biernes found the back of the cage to give Six Nations the early lead. After Ben McCullough scored for the Shamrocks to the tie game, the Chiefs would respond with goals from Johnny Powless and Craig Point to head into the second period with a 3-1 advantage.
Six Nations would continue their momentum as Point buried his second goal of the night just over one minute into the second frame. After former Chief Rhys Duch scored a powerplay marker for Victoria to make the game 4-2, the teams went scoreless for the remainder of the period. Six Nations goaltender Evan Kirk turned aside 13 shots during the period, while Matt Vinc stopped six shots for the Shamrocks.
Victoria Shamrocks junior call up Jesse King took over in the third period as the youngster would record a natural hat-trick in under five minutes. King would open the scoring in the third with his first of the game off of an assist for Karsen Leung. After the Ohio State star deposited his second of the game on the powerplay. King would finish his natural hat-trick with just over ten minutes left to play to complete the comeback for Victoria. Six Nations were held scoreless in the final frame, registering just eight shots on net, as the Shamrocks would take the game 5-4.
King’s three goals led the way for Victoria, as he earned game MVP honours for the Shamrocks. Rhys Duch and Cory Conway each had two points in the win. Six Nations game MVP Cody Jameison had three assists in a losing effort, while Craig Point chipped in with a pair of goals for the Chiefs.
Evan Kirk was solid for the Chiefs in the loss stopping 39 of 44 shots faced. Vinc made 26 shots to earn the win for the Shamrocks.
Game 2 is scheduled for Saturday at 7 p.m. PST/10 P.M. ET.
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