The Nanaimo DBL Timbermen have shown they can beat the league’s best teams. Part of that is because they’re keeping the ball out of their net.
Pat Mallough, a newcomer to the team, has quickly pinned down the No. 1 goalie job with Nanaimo’s senior B lacrosse club.
His first appearance, on the road against the North Shore Indians, he shut the door and allowed his team to win in a comeback.
“That first game he played for us he pretty much grabbed the reins right there…” said Mike Maughan, coach of the T-men. “The guys, now that he’s been in there for a few games, have a little bit more confidence back there knowing what we’ve got back there.”
The 22-year-old from Saskatoon is the son of Pat Mallough, Sr., a former Nanaimo Clippers player. So he knew about the Harbour City, but it still took some convincing from teammates Jordan Jarvis and Gabe Sutherland to make the move west.
“They said they need a goalie and I kept hemming and hawing and about a week before finals I said, ‘You know what? I’m going to go.’ And I just didn’t look back,” he said.
Senior B in B.C. is a lot faster pace than senior B in Saskatchewan, Mallough said, and that’s what he wanted. He also likes Nanaimo, which he said is much like Saskatoon.
“No country bars, though; it kind of ruins it for me,” he joked. “But the lacrosse community is great, a lot stronger than what we have back home and it makes me love lacrosse more than what I already had.”
He hasn't had to make too many adjustments to his game, continuing to play a style he describes as a little unorthodox.
"I go down low and sometimes I get a little too low and my body hurts after," he said. "I just react to the ball. I'm a shorter goalie so I have to coax them into shooting in a spot that I want them to."
Maughan said Mallough "battles" in the crease.
"He never gives up on any play," said the coach. "And he's really worked on his stick and his outlets have gotten so much better."
Backstopped by their new goalie, the DBL T-men are looking like contenders. There’s great potential, Mallough said, maybe even to get to the President’s Cup.
“That’s a goal of mine, so I hope the team’s on board with that,” he said.
GAME ON … Nanaimo hosts the Royal City Capitals tonight (June 14) at 7:30 p.m. at the Nanaimo Ice Centre. Tickets, $7 each, will be available at the door … To read last week's article on the DBL Timbermen, please click here.
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