A good opening period was not enough for the New Westminster Salmonbellies.
The senior A ’Bellies gave as good as they got in the first period of the Western Lacrosse Association best-of-seven semifinal before falling 13-8 to the Victoria Shamrocks in Game 1 at the Q Centre in Victoria on Wednesday.
New West opened quickly with captain Curtis Hodgson tallying the first goal of the series in the opening minute of play.
Jordan McBride, with his first of three goals, followed minutes later to give the visitors a 2-0 advantage.
Junior callup Josh Byrne also scored in the first period, notching his first WLA playoff goal that gave the Salmonbellies a short-lived 3-2 lead.
Victoria went ahead 5-3 by midway through the wild opening 20 minutes, before Jesse Fehr sparked an unanswered three-goal finish for the ’Bellies that included a second goal from McBride and a single from Logan Schuss less than a minute apart late in the period to give New West a 6-5 lead heading into the second period.
But first star Corey Small wouldn’t be stopped in the middle period, leading the way for the ’Rocks with seven goals, four coming in a turnaround 6-0 second period for the home team. Dhane Smith added seven assists for Victoria. Jesse King also had a five-point night.
Jordan McBride tallied a hat trick in a team-high four-point effort for the visitors. Alexis Buque made 32 saves in the loss. Neil Tyacke came on in relief midway through the final frame and stopped all seven shots fired his way.
Game 2 of the series is at Queen’s Park Arena today (Friday). Game time is an early 6 p.m. start. Game 3 is back in Victoria on Sunday at 6 p.m.
