The Victoria Shamrocks showed Coquitlam lacrosse fans why they are the top ranked team in the country right now.
The Western Lacrosse Association's No. 1 club defeated the Adanacs 8-5 during Home Coming Night at the Poirier Sports and Leisure Complex Saturday night.
Coquitlam put up a tough fight, but were never able to take control against the high-powered Shamrocks offence.
Adanacs top-scorer Brett Hickey was the first to light up the scoreboard when he buried a pass from Ryan Keith in the opening minute of the game.
However, as the period wore on, it was clear that scoring on the visitors would not be easy.
Victoria's Scott Ranger tied the game at one goal each, while Mitch McLaren snagged the go-ahead goal for the Rocks.
Ranger, who went on to score a hat trick in the match, rounded out the first period scoring with an unassisted marker on the power play.
Coquitlam's Matthew Dinsdale scored five minutes into the middle frame to make it 3-2, but Shamrocks forward Karsen Leung restored the two-goal lead before the period ended.
Victoria ran into some penalty trouble in the third period, which allowed the Adanacs to even the score.
Matt Delmonico scored a power play marker for the home team two minutes into the final frame before Brandon Goodwin scored two in a row on a power play, both times assisted by Darryl Veltman, who had five points in the game.
But Victoria still had some offence left.
Ranger scored his third of the match with seven minutes left to make it 6-5, before Rhys Duch and Chris Wardle each added insurance markers.
Adanacs goalie Adam Shute stopped 41 of 49 shots he faced, while Matt Flindell got the win at the other end of the rink, stopping 41 of 46 shots.
Coquitlam had better luck on Thursday when the club visited the New Westminster Salmonbellies at the Queen's Park Arena.
New West jumped out to a 2-1 lead early in the third, but singles from Ryan Johnson and Brett Hickey helped the Adanacs to a 3-2 lead after the first 20 minutes.
Hickey, who ended the game with three goals, extended the lead early in the second, before teammates Daryl Veltman scored on the power play to make it 5-2.
The Salmonbellies were able to find their footing midway through the second, when the club quickly tied the game with three unanswered goals off the sticks of Sean Robinson, Jordan McBride and Keegan Bal.
However, the Adanacs took over the game in the final period.
The club's defence shut down the Salmonbellies attack while a patient offence managed to find the back of the net.
Johnson scored his second of the game early in the third, before Dinsdale and Vincent Ricci added insurance markers to take the game 9-6 for the visitors.
Shute stopped 44 of the 50 shots he faced in the win, while Veltman was named the first star of the game.
Coquitlam will play its next home game on Saturday when the club hosts the Nanaimo Timbermen. The face-off is set for 7 p.m. at the Poirier Sport and Leisure Complex.
