The Victoria Shamrocks drew closer to the Western Lacrosse Association record winning streak of 16 games set by the 1969 Coquitlam Adanacs when Sugar, Sugar by the Archies topped the radio charts and Easy Rider rode across movie screens.
The Shamrocks moved to 14-0 on the season with an 11-7 victory over the Adanacs (6-9-1) before nearly 2,000 fans on Friday night at The Q Centre to move within two games of the all-time WLA consecutive victory mark.
But Shamrocks head coach Mike Simpson showed little inclination for caring about streaks or records: “Those kinds of things are indicators that you have had a good year. But they are just stepping stones to where we want to get to. I just want our game to be improving and moving upwards for the playoffs.”
Also, as a cautionary fable, it was New Westminster and not Coquitlam that went on to win the WLA playoff championship in 1969.
Jesse King, on a six-point night, and Marshal King recorded hat tricks for the Shamrocks while Clarke Petterson scored twice.
While the King brothers are Claremont Secondary grads who played NCAA Div. 1 at Ohio State with the Buckeyes and Drexel with the Dragons, respectively, Petterson came to the Shamrocks this season from Etobicoke, Ont.
“This is a talented [Shamrocks] group and it’s amazing how together everyone is,” said the top-10 scorer in the pro NLL winter season, who played NCAA Div. 1 for the Cornell Big Red.
“A lot of them are local Island guys who grew up playing together. But they have been so welcoming to me. It’s a great atmosphere and a great culture here.”
Because of commitments, including trying out for Team Canada for the 2024 world box-lacrosse championship in September at Utica, New York, Petterson has been limited to four games so far with Victoria but has shown his classy offensive touch with five goals and 13 points in that quartet of outings.
He will be with the Shamrocks now throughout the regular season and the playoffs and could be settling in for a long run.
“We can win a bunch of different ways,” said the 26-year-old, named third star Friday after the King siblings.
“We can run-and-gun with teams if needed while our goaltenders are capable of stealing games for us, too”
Casey Wilson, an NCAA Final Four player this year with the University of Denver Pioneers, scored for Victoria on a three-point night while Cole Pickup and Liam Phillips scored the other Shamrocks goals. Kean Moon, a standout in Alberta during his junior career in Okotoks and an NCAA Div. 1 player with Robert Morris University, led Coquitlam Friday with two goals and five points.
Meanwhile, the Nanaimo Timbermen (4-9-1) were in Burnaby on Friday night, losing 14-11 to the Lakers (5-7-1), before hosting the Shamrocks tonight in the Island derby at Frank Crane Arena in the Harbour City.
