By Ian McNaughton

Some say it was the luck of the Irish. Some say they were the better team. In the end, it’s the Victoria Shamrocks who are taking home the 2019 WLA Championship. The Rocks defeated the Maple Ridge Burrards 9-8 in overtime on Sunday night to clinch the series at four games to one. Victoria will now await the winner of the MSL Finals between Peterborough and Six Nations as that series is tied at two games apiece. 

Maple Ridge had more shots in Game 5, outshooting Victoria 51-45, and went 4-6 on the powerplay in the game. Dan Taylor finished the night with the most points on the Burrards with four. He had two goals as did Ryan Keenan and Dane Dobbie. Curtis Dickson was limited to just one goal on sixteen shots, the most shots he’s had in a game this series. 

In net, Christian Del Bianco made his only start of his the playoffs for Maple Ridge in Game 5. He made 36 saves in the losing effort and will return to the Coquitlam Adanacs next season to be their netminder. It was also a decent night in the faceoff dot for Reece Callies, won 11 of 20 draws Sunday. In the end, the Burrards fell short on making the Mann Cup for the second straight season and their time in four years. 

For Victoria, it was a roller coaster of emotions throughout the game. Graeme Hossack scored his first of four goals just twenty seconds in the game before the Rocks jumped out to a 4-0 lead. With Victoria ahead 6-3, Pete Dubenski was called for illegal goalie equipment, which was his second major of the game and received a game misconduct. With Cody Hagedorn called into action, he stopped 18 of 23 shots and got the win for Victoria. 

Coming off the dramatic game-winning goal in Game 4, Tyler Pace had two goals for Victoria. Also collecting goals for the Rocks was Chris Wardle, Tyson Gibson, and Chris Boushy. It was also a slow night for Tyler Burton, who went 9 for 20 in the faceoffs. In the postseason, Burton has collected a .715 faceoff winning percentage and will be a critical part to any success the Rocks have in the Mann Cup. 

NOTES

Victoria Shamrocks goalie Pete Dubenski was named the WLA Playoff MVP. In the 2019 WLA postseason, Dubenski has a 7.21 GAA and a .852 SV% 

Game 1 of the 2019 Mann Cup will begin Friday, September 6th as the schedule is official. Gametimes are still to be determined.