Gary Groob
All Lacrosse All The Time – A Division of Edge of Philly Sports Network
The Burnaby Lakers (1-2) visited the Victoria Shamrocks (2-0) in Friday night WLA Lacrosse action in front of 2,095 fans at the Q Arena.
The Shamrocks scored early and often enroute to a lopsided 21-6 beating of the Lakers.
To The Game:
The Shamrocks scored early and often, setting the pace for a long Lakers evening.
Jacob Ruest (2g,3a) opened the scoring off a pass from Patrick Dodds at 1:59, followed by Tyler Burton (2g,1a) scoring unassisted just 0:46 seconds later. Jesse King (6g,6a) scored the next two goals and this game was already out of hand at just 4:41 of the first period.
The teams traded goals a couple of times with Lazslo Henning (1g,0a) finally stopping the Shamrocks run. Henning converted a Trevayne Hunter pass at 5:19, only to have Jake Foster (1g,3a) score in transition for Victoria at 8:35. Toron Eccleston (1g,2a) scored again for Burnaby off a Connor Watson pass at 9:47, but Jackson Nishimura (1g,0a) answered back again for Victoria at 11:10 to restore the four goal lead.
Jesse King scored his third of the night off a Derek Lloyd pass at 0:38 seconds later, followed by Larson Sundown (3g,2a) converting a Nick Preston pass at 14:03. Jesse King scored his fourth and fifth goals of the period finishing a Larson Sundown pass just 0:30 seconds later, then converting a Dan Smith pass at 17:45.
Keiran McKay (1g,0a) scored on the power play for Burnaby, converting a Toron Eccleston pass at 18:33, and this nightmare of a period would finally come to an end for the Lakers.
After one period, Shamrocks 10 Lakers 3.
Second Period:
To add to the Burnaby woes, they got themselves in penalty trouble to start the second period, with Victoria scoring three power play goals in a row. Patrick Dodds (3g,3a) finished a Marshal King pass at just 0:26 seconds into the period, followed by King (2g,6a) himself scoring the next two. First converting brother Jesse’s pass on the power play at 3:18, then scoring again on the power play off a Jacob Ruest pass at 5:53, giving the Shamrocks at ten goal cushion 13-3.
Patrick Dodds and Pearson Willis (2g,1a) of the Lakers traded goals, only to have Tyler Burton score his second of the night shorthanded for the Shamrocks at 12:48 unassisted. Larson Sundown scored again for Victoria at 16:37 ending the second period scoring.
After two periods, Shamrocks 16 Lakers 4.
Third Period:
The period got going with a tilt between Tyler Burton of the Shamrocks and Josh Kelly of the Lakers at 1:13, earning both men five minute fighting majors.
Jacob Ruest opened the third period scoring at 1:25 converting a Jesse King pass, but was answered back by Pearson Willis scoring his second of the evening for Buranaby at 2:40 on the power play.
The play went back and forth for the majority of the period not yielding any goals until Patrick Dodds scored another power play goal for Victoria off a Marshal King pass at 11:55. Larson Sundown scored again for the Shamrocks converting a Jacob Ruest pass at 12:31, followed by Nick Preston (1g,5a) scoring off a Jake Foster pass at 14:18 making the score 20-5.
The teams exchanged goals once more with Connor Watson (1g,4a) scoring for Burnaby, followed by Jesse King with his sixth of the game at 17:45.
Final score, Victoria 21 Buranaby 6.
The Three Stars:
- First Star…………Jesse King
- Second Star…….Patrick Dodds
- Third Star………..Tyler Burton
Game Stats:
- Victoria outshot Burnaby 52-40
- Victoria went 4 of 5 on the power play, also scoring a shorthanded goal.
- The faceoff battle went to the Shamrocks 21-8.
- Burnaby went 3 for 4 on the power play.
Top Scorers:
Burnaby Lakers:
- Connor Watson 1g, 4a
- Pearson Willis 2g, 1a
- Toron Eccleston 1g, 2a
Victoria Shamrocks:
- Jesse King 6g, 6a
- Marshal King 2g, 6a
- Patrick Dodds 3g, 3a
Gary Groob has been involved with Lacrosse for the majority of his life, whether playing, coaching, or covering the sport for the media.
An avid fan, with a real drive about helping to “grow the game”, Gary became part of podcasts about the game in 2010. Through the podcasts, Mr. Groob was given an opportunity to write about lacrosse, and the rest as they say, is history.
Through many miles (flying and driving) Gary has made inroads with the National Lacrosse League, Major Series Lacrosse League, the Ontario Lacrosse Association, as well as the Arena Lacrosse League, covering the leagues, their teams, and players, working for, and in concert with all of them.
In the year 2020, Mr. Groob was made the media person for the Arena Lacrosse League, voted onto the board of directors of the Brampton Excelsiors Lacrosse Club, as well as being made administrator of the Lacrosse page “Global Lacrosse” with a membership of 9000 members in over 90 Countries. Gary was also made an administrator of Lacrosse History Past Present and Future in 2022.
Mr. Groob co-hosts a weekly Lacrosse show on Spanglish Sports World, and ZingoTV channel 250, as well as writes a weekly lacrosse column for La Portada Canada News (both in print, and online).
Gary also hosts a Lacrosse talk show and podcast for The Edge of Philly Sports Network, seen live Sunday nights at 9pm (ET), and archived on the Edge of Philly YouTube page, as well as Spotify.
Mr. Groob’s other sports interests include Hockey, Football, Boxing, Wrestling, and Baseball, competing competitively in Boxing and Wrestling for many years.
