Victoria Shamrocks head coach Mike Simpson addressed his players post-game Wednesday night in a steamy dressing room beneath the packed stands in Iroquois Lacrosse Arena: “I told them I couldn’t be prouder of them.”
The hosts and Ontario champion Six Nations Chiefs defeated the Shamrocks 13-9 to win their second consecutive Mann Cup Senior A championship 4-1 in the best-of-seven national final series — but they knew they were in a series.
Despite being massive underdogs, the Western Lacrosse Association-champion Shamrocks led in substantial portions of four of the five games.
“Our guys played their hearts out,” said Victoria GM Chris Welch.
“Every game was a battle but the Chiefs are the back-to-back champions for a reason. This [Six Nations] is maybe the best team I’ve seen — and we gave them a good test. There is no bitter taste. We left it all on the floor and we leave here proud.”
The Shamrocks led 8-7 Wednesday after the second period before being outscored 6-1 in the third period, although the two final goals were into empty nets with the Victoria goalie pulled. It was the third consecutive game in which Victoria led only to lose. The Chiefs overcame 5-2 second-period deficits to win the third and fourth games.
“We gave [Six Nations] all they could handle. But they have so much experience and nothing really fazes them. They just keep coming,” said Victoria bench boss Simpson.
The Chiefs won their eighth Mann Cup in team history in eight appearances, all since 1994. Victoria made its 22nd appearance since 1950 but will remain on nine Mann Cups, fourth all-time behind New Westminster’s 24, Peterborough’s 18 and Brampton’s 11. Nanaimo won its lone championship in 1956.
Ontario teams have won 16 of the last 17 Mann Cups since 2006 (2020 and 2021 were cancelled due to the pandemic). The only WLA team to win during that stretch was the 2015 Shamrocks.
Victoria has won the WLA’s last three Mann Cups in 2015, 2005 and 2003 but could not overcome the historical trend of Ontario dominance. No WLA team has won the Mann Cup on the road in Ontario since New Westminster in 1986, which is nearly four decades for those counting.
Eli McLaughlin scored five goals for the Chiefs on a seven-point night. Lyle Thompson had two goals and three assists to finish the series with 10 goals and 21 points to be named Mann Cup MVP, to add his name to legendary past Mike Kelley Memorial Trophy winners such as Paul and Gary Gait of Victoria, John Tavares, John Grant Jr., Wayne Goss, Paul Parnell and Jack Bionda.
Mike Messenger, a pick-up player from the New Westminster Salmonbellies, led the Shamrocks with a goal and three assists while veteran Shamrocks forward and NLL-pro Chris Wardle added a goal and two assists and Claremont Secondary Spartans and NCAA Big Ten Ohio State Buckeyes graduate Jesse King also had a goal and two assists.
The WLA champion will host the 2025 Mann Cup series.
“We have a young team and I’m excited about the future,” said Welch.
Simpson added: “There is never a guarantee of a carryover into next season but we have the fundamentals in place to be here again next year. The future looks bright.”
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