Kodi Hammill finished with three points, including the eventual game-winning goal, as the Oceanside Sharks novices held on for a tense, 5-4 win over the Nanaimo Timbermen in Vancouver Island Box Lacrosse League play Sunday at Oceanside Place.
Liam Clyde added a pair of goals for the Sharks, who stormed quickly out of the gate and carried a 2-0 lead into the first intermission. Nanaimo scored two quick goals in the opening minute of the second period to knot the score, and the teams traded goals midway through the period as the game settled into a seesaw affair.
Hammill’s first goal, at 9:34 of the second, gave Oceanside a 4-3 lead, and he added a goal at 3:57 of the third to make it 5-3.
The Timbermen struck back on a goal with 11:09 to play, but Sharks goaltender Evan Hyde weathered a last-ditch push by Nanaimo to preserve the win.
“I think all in all the teams played a great game and it was close right up until the buzzer,” Oceanside coach Craig Lewis said. “Nanaimo put on a lot of offensive pressure during the last minute and a half trying to tie the game, but the Sharks held them off for the win.”
Cooper Todd scored the Sharks’ opening goal off a Hammill assist, and Drew Lewis and Hyde contributed assists in the win.
The novice Sharks are back at Oceanside Place Thursday, June 8, to host Comox Valley in a 6:30 p.m. league game.
Bantams cruise
The bantam Sharks, who will host the 2017 B.C. Provincial Box Lacrosse Championships in July, rolled to a 9-2 win over visiting Saanich earlier Sunday to remain unbeaten since suffering an 11-6 loss to the Tigers in the teams’ league season opener in early May.
Oceanside now leads the Vancouver Island Bantam B division with a 7-1-0 record. The Sharks travel to face Juan de Fuca this Saturday, then will host their regular-season finale June 21 against the Grizzlies at Oceanside Place.
— NEWS Staff