Shamrocks barely get by Mounties, Minto final set

August 29th, 2008 by Paul Tutka

Orangeville defender and tough guy Andrew Suitor will lock horns with Victoria again on Saturday night in the Minto Cup final.

Well, the host Calgary Mountaineers continued to play some inspired lacrosse during this year’s Minto Cup, going stride-for-stride with the heavily favored Victoria Shamrocks, but ultimately succumbing to the BC champs in the final minutes of the third period, losing 7-4.

The Mounties stormed back early in the third period with goals from Kiel Donahue, Tyler Prindham and Danny Farmer, knotting things up at four and pushing the Shamrocks right up against the wall.

The momentum was definitely in Calgary’s favor, that is until Victoria got two clutch goals in the span of 28 seconds from Cayle Ratcliff, both goals coming in the 18th minute of the intense Minto semi-final.

“They weren’t willing to give up,” Ratcliff told the Calgary Herald after last night’s late game heroics. “When your season’s on the line, you’re willing to do a lot. They were great competitors. I have a lot of respect for them.”

Ratcliff finished the game with a hat-trick and helper, while Mike Pires lead all scorers with a goal and four assists.

The Mounties got an outstanding showing from keeper Kane Swartout, who allowed Calgary to make that impressive comeback in the third period. The team got a similar performance from Drew Dickie the night previous as they played another close game, this time against the Orangeville Northmen. Both results, although losses, were beyond unexpected showings from a Calgary squad who had won all of four games since May. Many feel if was the strongest showing of any team from Alberta since the province was awarded a spot in the national Junior ‘A’ final.

With the win, the Shamrocks find themselves in the Minto Cup final against the number one ranked Northmen, who already dumped Victoria 10-5 in round robin play.

In that first meeting, the two teams combined for 150 total penalty minutes, with 12 fighting majors handed out and a bit of blood to be mopped up from the Max Bell court when all was said and done.

Although both teams will no doubt be more composed in Saturday night’s final, you better believe there’ll be no love-loss on the court.

The final game will be played at Max Bell Arena in Calgary at 7:30PM local time. Click here to find our how you can check out the action in what should be a beauty.