Discipline will be key if the Langley Thunder hope to hoist a third consecutive Western Lacrosse Association championship.
“They have a lot of firepower; they really loaded up to make a run,” said Langley coach Rod Jensen.
He was referring to the Victoria Shamrocks, the Thunder’s opponent in the best-of-seven WLA championship series which begins with game one tomorrow (Wednesday) at 7:45 p.m. at the Langley Events Centre.
Langley finished atop the WLA with an 11-5-2 record, two points ahead of the second-place Shamrocks (11-7-0). During three regular season meetings, the Thunder won twice.
“If we are disciplined, we should be good,” Jensen said.
“(Because) a team like that will really make you pay.”
The championship series will pit the highest-scoring offence (Victoria) versus the stingiest defence (Langley).
The Shamrocks averaged just over 11 goals per game while the Thunder surrendered 7.6.
Jensen said he has noticed his team struggling with their composure as of late, allowing the referees to get under their skin and become a distraction. He did say that this is not like his team and they will need to correct that if they hope to advance and play for a third straight Mann Cup.
Both Langley and Victoria are coming off four-game sweeps of their semifinal series. The Thunder defeated the Coquitlam Adanacs while Victoria took care off the Burnaby Lakers.
The Thunder wrapped up their series on Saturday with an 11-9 victory in Coquitlam.
The Thunder never trailed in game four, leading 4-2 after one period and 8-5 after 40 minutes.
They used a dominant power play to get the job done, scoring on all four of their opportunities. Leading the way was Shayne Jackson, who had four goals and three assists.
Garrett Billings (two goals, three assists) and Adam Jones (two goals) also had multi-goal games while Brett Mysdke, Daniel McQuade and Mike Grimes had one goal apiece. Alex Turner chipped in with three assists.
Brodie MacDonald stopped 38 shots in the victory.
Langley won each of the four games by two goals.
“At the end of the say, we just had a little too much firepower and were strong defensively,” Jensen said.
