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| Karsen Leung scores Victoria's first goal in their 6-5 double overtime win Saturday that evened the Mann Cup at 1-1. (Photo: Tim Prothero) |
The Victoria Shamrocks won a roller
coaster of a game 6-5 in sudden-death overtime to tie the 2014 Mann
Cup at one game apiece. Victoria beat the Six Nations Chiefs when
Chris Wardle slipped behind the defence and buried a pass from
Scott Ranger on the crease 2:32 into the fifth period.
It was Wardle's second goal of the game
to go along with 2 assists. Corey Small also scored twice for
the Shamrocks. Colin Doyle and Craig Point each had a
pair of goals for the Chiefs. Doyle's second looked like it might
stand as the game-winner. He took a pass from Jesse Gamble in
transition and barrelled down the slot to put the ball past Matt
Flindell at 3:36 of the first overtime, giving the Chiefs a 5-4
lead. Small evened things up with 31 seconds left in the frame when
he bounced a shot through Brandon Miller.
Both goalies and defences were
outstanding throughout the game. It was 3-1 Six Nations after the
first period and Wardle scored the only goal of the second on a power
play. Rhys Duch tied it up at 3:33 of the third. Small, who
had been struggling with is shot through the first two games, finally
connected to give the Shamrocks their first lead of the series at
14:28.
That looked like it would hold up as
the winner as time was ticking down in regulation and the Chiefs went
deep into the shot clock. Very deep, as it would turn out. The shot
clock appeared to stop running with three seconds left and Point put
home a brilliant cross-floor pass from Doyle with six seconds
remaining in regulation, after the shot clock would have expired. “We
have to look at the 30-second clock because the 30-second clock was
incorrectly run when they scored that tying goal and that has to be
addressed. Plain and simple,” said Victoria head coach Bob
Heyes. “We're not here for a game like this to be decided on
someone who's not impartial.”
Heyes was proud of the heart his team
showed to win the game. “We gutted it out,” he said. “I played
for this club for 12 years. The pride these guys showed was something
else. I don't know if you've seen that from a club like that.
Everything they showed was outstanding.”
Flindell, who was named the game's
second star (Wardle was the first), gave credit to the defence in
front of him. “Our defence played unbelievable,” Flindell said.
“I don't think [the Chiefs] got a shot in sudden-death overtime.
They got barely any in overtime. Our D stepped up when we needed it.
They were letting me see the shots. When I see the shots I can stop
them, even with these great shooters.”
The goalie has been a lifelong
Shamrocks fan and is thrilled to be a part of a Mann Cup run with the
legendary franchise. “This is the trophy I grew up dreaming to
play, watching the Shamrocks win back when I was a kid. Winter ball
doesn't really mean much to me in theory, I just grew up wanting to
be a Shamrock. This is the dream. I'm making the most of it while I
can.”
Six Nations head coach Rich Kilgour
said his team can't get caught up in ifs after the loss. “They end
up winning 6-5. You play 70 minutes and both teams only end up
putting up 10 goals combined. That's some good D and that's some good
goaltending. They were one shot better than us tonight. Learn from
it, move on.”
Game 3 goes Monday night at the
Iroquois Lacrosse Arena. You can see the game on live PPV webcast
produced by JVI Video. Click on the Webcast Sports link in the right
hand column of this site and follow the instructions to watch the
game.
