Shutouts seldom happen in lacrosse. Nick Rose and the Coquitlam Adanacs darn near nabbed one Saturday.
A Mike Berekoff goal six minutes into the third period was all the scoring the New Westminster Salmonbellies could muster as the Adanacs shackled the Royal City visitors 5-1 in a Western Lacrosse Association battle at Poirier Sports Complex.
"It would have been nice to get the goose-egg but that wasn't really where my head was at," said the 24-year-old Rose, who blocked 38 shots to secure the victory and collect first-star honours. "Just getting the win was foremost on my mind, especially battling a team like New West."
The win improved the Adanacs to 2-4, while the 'Bellies slipped to 3-3.
"It was very strange to beat the Salmonbellies 5-1, all right," said A's general manager Randy Delmonico. "I don't recall a score like that in all my years hanging around this game. You see that type of score in hockey, or in soccer or baseball, but not very often in lacrosse.
"Nick's still probably standing on his head at home right now," Delmonico added with a chuckle.
The last shutout on the Sr. 'A' circuit occurred on May 23, 1993 when Bob Heyes and the Victoria Shamrocks blanked the Burnaby Lakers, 10-0. Rose himself actually recorded one during the 2008 Ontario Junior 'A' league playoffs, when he back-stopped the Orangeville Northmen to a 6-0 triumph over the Awkwesane Jr. Indians.
"I just got lucky, really," recalled Rose, who was beaten by Berekoff with the A's up 5-0 and 'Bellies goalie Tyler Richards yanked for an extra attacker. "You need a lot of luck to get a shutout in lacrosse. They [Jr. Indians] hit a couple goalposts and one time the ball was right on the goal line. It just was meant to be, I guess."
Coupled with falling 10-6 to the host Victoria Shamrocks last Wednesday, the Adanacs have now allowed only 39 goals in their six outings thus far this campaign. Scoring continues to pose a problem for the team that finished last in the seven-team loop last season, however, as it has managed only 35 to date.
"I think we have been playing better offensively of late," Rose said. "I think we're just snake-bitten right now. We're throwing a lot of shots at the net, they just aren't dropping right now. Even though we only got five goals [Saturday], they were timely ones."
Dane Dobbie and Daryl Veltman bagged a goal and one assist apiece for Coquitlam, who bolted to a 3-0 first-period lead and went ahead 4-0 on Ryan Johnson's lone second-period marker. Jason Jones and captain Bruce Murray also tallied for the A's.
Next, the A's travel to Langley on Wednesday to play the defending playoff-champion Thunder, who currently sit 5-2 behind 5-0 Victoria.
RAG LINE: Delmonico added some offensive punch to his line-up when he inked former Jr. Adanacs' standout Kelly Kilpatrick, who was a free agent after being released by the Thunder. Kilpatrick was chosen by Langley in the second round (13th overall) of the 2009 WLA draft but injuries since hampered his status with the Thunder. "He's a great athlete and has a cannon for a shot when he's on," Delmonico said of Kilpatrick, who was held pointless in his A's debut Saturday.
