The Oceanside Sharks ended last week with a loss and a tie in Pacific Northwest Junior Lacrosse League (PNJLL) action.
They were first beaten by the Nanaimo Timbermen 12-8 in front of their home fans at Oceanside Place on June 26. On Saturday, June 29, they travelled to Campbell River where they took on the Ravens and ended up settling for a 7-7 tie.
The latter game was more important for the Sharks as the PNJLL season is nearing its playoff stage. The Sharks are currently in fourth place in the league and with two games left to play, they will likely face the Ravens in single elimination game to determine who will advance to the top four in the playoffs. The top two teams in the league have a bye while the third- and fourth-place teams still need to secure their post-season spots.
The Sharks took the initial lead against the Ravens with Blake Knoll scoring at 16:13. It didn't take Ravens long to even things and take the a 2-1 lead. The Sharks squared things on a power play, with captain Ben Tisdelle scoring unassisted and with time winding down, Kaelen Fourneau put Oceanside ahead 3-2.
In the second, the Ravens again tied it up 3-3 with the man advantage. It woke the Sharks up as they responded with three goals in a row led by Tisdelle who scored two goals, with Cole Davies adding one to put Oceanside ahead 6-3. The Sharks had an opportunity to add more to their lead as they were awarded two power-play opportunities. Unfortunately, they allowed the Ravens to score two short-handed goals and then gave up another goal to end the period tied 6-6.
In the final frame, the Ravens continued their momentum and grabbed a 7-6 lead. The Sharks were able to tie it up 7-7 and it stayed that way until the final buzzer.
Jordan Day manned the pipes for the Sharks and turned away 33 of the 44 shots he faced.
Prior to playing the Ravens, the Sharks hosted the second-best team in the league, the T-Men. The Sharks didn't have a good start, giving up four successive goals. They bounced back and scored five goals in a row with Rhys Edwards netting two goals, with one each coming from Tisdelle, Branden Russell and Knoll.
The Timbermen halted the Sharks scoring spree in the second and eventually took control of the game. They scored four goals and allowed the Sharks just one, netted by Edwards, for his third goal of the night.
Trailing 8-6, the Sharks opened the third with a power-play goal from Knoll to cut the lead to one. The Sharks, however, lost composure and took a number of penalties that the Timbermen capitalized on, scoring three power-play goals in a row and one more goal to seal the game. The Sharks had one more goal but it came too late, scored by Tisdelle.
With the season winding down, the Sharks have two more games left to play. They are both on the road against the Cowichan Thunder on July 6 and the next day, the Sharks are in Nanaimo to take on the Timbermen.