The Coquitlam Adanacs brought a big reputation into Colwood for Saturday night's B.C. Junior A Lacrosse League game against the Victoria Shamrocks.
The unbeaten Adanacs, leading the league by a healthy margin, lived up to that advance billing and pushed their winning streak to 16 games to start the season with a 17-9 win over the hometown 'Rocks.
Last year's Minto Cup national runners-up allowed the Shamrocks (7-10) to pull within a pair at 5-3 late in the first period. But three Coquitlam goals in the final 3:29 of the period effectively put the game out of reach for Victoria and showed how dominating the Adanacs can be when they crank things up a notch.
Coquitlam turned that 8-3 lead into a 15-6 margin after two. The Shamrocks scored three of the first four goals i the third, but it was all over by that time.
Brett Kujala had four goals to lead the visitors, while Tyler Pace and Jean-Luc Chetner had three goals and three helpers apiece.
Eddie Smith and Marshall King scored twice each for the Shamrocks, while Brad McCulley topped the point list with five (1-4). Other goals came from Cole Pickup, Brock Thompson-Marshall, Zac Christianson and Dallas Wade.
Coquitlam boosted its lead atop the BC standings, as second-place Delta (12-6) lost 12-10 to Port Coquitlam on Saturday.
On Sunday, the Shamrocks (7-11) let an 8-4 second period lead slip away from them in Langley, losing 9-8 to the Thunder. Nick Preston led the Shamrocks attack with a goal and two assists.
Victoria is in Nanaimo for a Wednesday night game against the Timbermen, then returns home for a July 2 game against the Burnaby Lakers at 5 p.m. at The Q Centre.
editor@goldstreamgazette.com