King Clutch: Jesse King scores natural hattrick, Shamrocks win Mann Cup opener

Jesse King (@Kinger_91) of the Victoria Shamrocks is the real deal - we'll call him King Clutch.

The Junior call-up and Ohio State Buckeyes star Canadian scored a momentum goal early in the third period, added a game-tying powerplay marker and then scored the game-winner, over-the-shoulder with the 30-second shotclock expiring to lift the host Victoria Shamrocks to a 5-4, come-from-behind victory over the Six Nations Chiefs in Game 1 of the Mann Cup Senior A Championship Series (Box Score).

And he made it look easy against some of box lacrosse's best defenders. It took all of four minutes and 16 seconds in the third period for the three back-to-back-to-back goals to tickle the twine - and now King is a hero.

A sellout crowd gave the youngster a standing ovation after his natural hattrick goal, one that puts the host club from the Western Lacrosse Association up one game in the best-of-seven Mann Cup series against the Ontario Major Series Lacrosse champion Chiefs.

After returning to his hometown of Victoria in late May, almost midway through the Victoria Junior Shamrocks regular season - later than others because his Ohio State Buckeyes made it to the NCAA Tournament Final 8 in his sophomore season - King led the Junior Shamrocks team in scoring with 111 points in 15 games, good for third in the province despite playing significantly fewer games.

Then, after the Junior Shamrocks were eliminated by the Coquitlam Junior Adanacs in the BC Junior A semifinals, King joined the senior Shamrocks in the WLA playoffs and was eighth on the squad in scoring, amassing 12 points in five games.

He's been a force to be reckoned with in this Mann Cup already - his powerplay goal from outside was a perfect shot and the winner a thing of beauty - and is one of several Juniors to watch in the Mann Cup along with Brody Eastwood (a healthy scratch in Game 1) from Victoria and Johnny Powless from Six Nations.

It was a great storybook finish to an outstanding lacrosse game. This series might very well go all seven games.

Here's Five Mann Cup Trends to Watch:

1. Can Six Nations Contain King?: Well, if he wasn't on the Chiefs' main scouting report before, he sure is now. The Six Nations defence will need to limit this guy's space as the lefty shooter was fantastic and scored two of his three goals winning on one-on-one dodge type moves.

2. Can Six Nations' defence continue to keep Victoria to the outside?: With the exception of King's game-winner and Victoria's first goal which was scored in transition, the Chiefs played outstanding defence, making it easier for Chiefs goaltender Evan Kirk to see and stop the ball. Victoria outshot Six Nations 44-30 in the game, even though Matt Vinc had to make many tougher saves.

3. In-Vinc-Able?: Speaking of Vinc, he was terrific. In particular, the St. Catharines, Ont., native made a huge save with a Six Nations powerplay running out after Shamrocks transition player Jeff Shattler turned over the ball late in a penalty kill and the Chiefs were robbed on a breakaway. The 26-save performance is a little misleading, as he had many difficult, in-tight shots to stop.

4. Can the Chiefs contain Victoria's Transition: Especially in the opening 30 minutes, the Shamrocks transition game gave Six Nations fits. Victoria's first goal, scored by Ben McCullough midway through the first period, was scored as a result of great transition play with Scott Ranger forcing the Chiefs to allow McCullough some extra space on a pseudo two-on-one. While Six Nations adjusted in the second half to limit transition chances, they'll need to be wary of Victoria's speed and skill at both ends of the floor.

5. Star power not bright: Stars Colin Doyle, Cody Jamieson, Roger Vyse and Kasey Beirnes for the Chiefs and Shattler, Ranger, Rhys Duch and Cory Conway for Victoria were very quiet in the game with the Victoria and Six Nations defences respectively shutting down the stars. With the marquee players limited, supporting depth players (like King) will be required to step it up. Both defensive systems work well, especially with Kirk and Vinc in net to bail you out when a rare mistake is made.

Game 2 goes Saturday night at 7 p.m. at Bear Mountain Arena. Follow live tweets @AndyWatsonBC. There's also a webcast and live stats.