Shamrocks lock up with Chiefs in Mann Cup

On Friday night the Mann Cup kicks off as the Six Nations Braves take on the Victoria Shamrocks. Both teams are making their return to the Mann Cup as the Shamrocks last made the Mann Cup in 2006 while the Chiefs were last in the cup in 1996.

The Shamrocks score by committee and play a team offense. The Shamrocks are led by Jeff Shattler, Scott Ranger, Rhys Duch, Cory Conway, and Brody Eastwood. The Chiefs are very similar as they also have a team based offense led by MSL playoffs MVP Cody Jamieson along with Colin Doyle, Kasey Beirnes and Johnny Powless. Overall the edge in offense has to go the Chiefs as they have more fire power and the absence of Corey Small will hurt the Shamrocks so the edge in offense has to go to Six Nations.

The Shamrocks though have the advantage in the transition game as their speed will allow them to remain a step ahead of the Braves. Defensemen Tyler Hass, Karsen Leung, and Dan McRae can all force turnovers and capitalize on them.

In net the edge clearly has to Victoria as Matt Vinc is the reigning NLL goalie of the year. Vinc has been impressive this year with Victoria posting an 8-2 post season record along with a 6.81 G.A.A. Evan Kirk on the other hand for the Chiefs has been impressive with a 6.44 G.A.A  and 9-0 playoff record. In the end Vinc’s track record in big games earns the Shamrocks the advantage in net.

This will be a series that lacrosse fans will want to tune into as it will be a high scoring shootout between two offensively gifted teams. Expect this to be a hard fought series but Victoria will prevail and bring the Mann Cup back out west for the first time since 2006.