On Friday night the WLA action ramps up as the Victoria Shamrocks take on the New Westminster Salmonbellies and the Coquitlam Adanacs take on the Burnaby Lakers.
The matchup between Victoria and New Westminster will be interesting because in their last meeting the Salmonbellies handed Victoria their first loss of the season 14-12 in overtime. It was an offensive battle but New Westminster finally gained the edge in overtime and were able to win due to Ilija Gajic scoring the game winning goal. This game should be a slobber knocker as these two teams have two of the strongest offenses in the league so it will likely come down to the wire once again. Both teams will be looking for a win because both teams with a win would move into a tie for 1st in the WLA.
Victoria in order to win this game will need to play better defense then they did against New Westminster in their last meeting. Victoria has the second best defense in the league so they should be able to find a way to slow New Westminster’s offense. Victoria also has the second best goalie in the league as Matt Flindell has been stellar this year. Victoria will need to be more defensively sound this time against New Westminster which will allow them to fluster New Westminster’s offense and force turnovers. If Victoria can impose their will on defense they should be able to counter attack effectively with the trio of Ryan Benesch, Corey Small and Jeff Shattler. Victoria has a good chance of winning this game as long as they don’t allow New Westminster to draw them into an offensive battle.
New Westminster’s best chance of winning this game is to get sustained offensive pressure. New Westminster will want to strike early and often forcing Victoria to work from behind and focus more on offense then defense. If New Westminster can solve Victoria’s defense and draw them into an offensive battle they should be able to win due to their balanced offensive attack. New Westminster has to be careful though to not get frustrated by Victoria’s defense and avoid making costly mistakes. New Westminster will need goalie Tyler Richards to play his best in order to stop the talented Victoria offense. If New Westminster can keep their composure and play good defense they will win this game.
The second game on Friday night will be between the Coquitlam Adanacs and the Burnaby Lakers. Coquitlam will look to extend their 3 game winning streak with a win over Burnaby. Burnaby will be looking for a win so they can stop there 2 game losing streak. This is the first meeting between these two teams this season so it will be interesting to see how it turns out.
Coquitlam in order to beat Burnaby will want to force Burnaby to play a slow and grinding game. Coquitlam has the best defense in the WLA and will want to force Burnaby to attack so they can force turnovers and loose balls so they can generate offensive chances. Coquitlam‘s defense is anchored by goalie Nick Rose is the best goalie in the WLA  so Burnaby’s offense will have their hands full. Coquitlam will hope they can get their offense on track early and build an early lead so they can focus on their defensive game plan. If Coquitlam can frustrate Burnaby’s offense they should be able to win this game
If Burnaby wants to win they will need to find a way to spread out Coquitlams defense and generate offensive chances. Burnaby will need to constantly vary their offensive attacks in order to keep Coquitlam’s defense guessing. Burnaby will look for Dane Stevens and Scott Jones to power the offense and break apart the Coquitlam defense. Burnaby’s defense should be able to stop Coquitlam’s weak offense as long as they don’t get sloppy. Burnaby needs to be patient on offense as they cannot allow Coquitlam to force turnovers and counter attack. Burnaby will have their hands full with Coquitlam but if they can establish their offense they will be able to win this game.
Both games begin at 7:45 pacific time and can be watched online at Playfullscreen.com.
