GAME DAY; COQUITLAM AT VICTORIA, 7: 45 P.M.;
Aside from putting together 60 minutes of lacrosse (or possibly even more in the case of overtime), the Victoria Shamrocks enter the playoffs with one other huge factor in mind.
That's not allowing Coquitlam Adanacs goaltender Nick Rose to get in their heads.
Rose, coming off back-to-back regular-season wins against the Shamrocks, is the main reason the Adanacs finished third in the Western Lacrosse Association, two points behind Victoria.
"Nick Rose is probably a true MVP candidate for this season," said Shamrocks head coach Bob Heyes. "Coquitlam has built its team around him. It's plain and simple.
"He's a big kid. He covers a lot of net. They allow the outside shot so he can see it and if you get inside that's a bonus. Our job is to have some success and take them out of their comfort zone." Maybe easier said than done, judging by Rose's statistics, but the Shamrocks will attempt just that in Game 1 of the best-of-seven semifinal tonight at 7: 45 at Bear Mountain Arena before the scene switches to the Mainland for Game 2 on Wednesday.
Rose led the WLA in every statistical category - first in goalsagainstaverage at 7.53; saves with 607; save percentage at .825 and wins with 10.
"He's been their best player all year and the key to this series, obviously, is to beat him," said Shamrocks sniper Corey Small, who tallied 42 times this season, second best in the WLA, and hopes his success continues.
And it's not like the Shamrocks haven't seen this before. It was just last playoff season that they were stymied by the netminding of one Brodie MacDonald who led the Langley Thunder to a stunning 4-0 series sweep of the Shamrocks who, like this season, had home-floor advantage in Round 1.
"If you're playing a hot goalie, yeah, it can get frustrating," said Small. "If you're getting the good shots and the ball's not going in because he's playing well it can be frustrating, but you have to keep doing what you're doing.
"You can't let a goalie like Brodie or Nick Rose get in your head because they'll only get better as the series rolls on."
Rose is coming off 9-8 and 10-9 wins over Victoria on back-to-back weekends in Coquitlam on July 7 and 14. He made 31 saves in the first, but 48 in the second as Dane Dobbie won it with a goal with 56 seconds left.
"Their turning point to this season is probably those back-to-back wins where they beat us," said Heyes. "He doesn't phase us at all, though. We beat him earlier this year [10-6 in Victoria] and we'll still score goals on him.
"He's just another goaltender and although he could have a huge factor in this series, we hope it doesn't come to that."
