Steve Hay will serve as captain of the Langley Thunder for the senior A team’s Western Lacrosse Association season.
Hay was announced as captain earlier this week with Adam Hill and James Rahe tabbed as assistants.
“Steve Hay is a veteran of the Western Lacrosse Association and has those intangibles that a captain needs on and off the floor,” said head coach Darcy Rhodes.
“It is great having a guy who has been through it and seen it all before and I know he will help the younger guys.”
Will has been named the team’s assistant captain. Will has played 41 games in the WLA, scoring six goals, 12 assists and 18 points, all while wearing a Langley Thunder uniform.
“It is an honour to be named an assistant captain. I have learned a lot from the captains I have played under in Langley including Matt Leveque and Brett Mydske,” said Adam Will. “I am looking forward to being a part of the leadership team and to get this team back competing for a Mann Cup.”
Finally, Rahe has appeared in 24 games with the Langley Thunder scoring 21 goals, 32 assists and 53 points.
“Our coaching staff and ownership is absolutely great and I love being a part of this team,” said James Rahe. “It is an honour to be recognized on this team’s leadership core.”
The Thunder are 0-1 to start the season following a 10-9 loss to the Victoria Shamrocks last week (May 19). Langley plays in Nanaimo on Sunday ahead of the team’s home opener at the Langley Events Centre on May 31.
In their season opener, Langley trailed 3-1 after 20 minutes but struck for seven goals in the middle frame to take a slim 8-7 lead into the second intermission. After falling behind 9-8, Bryce Brochu tied the score with three minutes to play but the Shamrocks struck for the winning goal with just 4.8 seconds left on the clock.
The Langley Thunder (0-1) lost to the Victoria Shamrocks (1-0) on Friday night, 10-9.
The Langley Thunder found themselves with a 3-1 deficit, after 20 minutes of their first WLA game of 2017. But their fortunes turned around after a 7-goal second period that put them up 8-7. The theatrics kept coming heading into the final frame.
The Shamrocks’ Corey Small scored a pair of goals to put Victoria up 9-8. But Bryce Brochu added a marker to tie the game up with three minutes left on the clock. When the game looked to be headed to extra time, the Shamrocks scored the go-ahead goal with 4.8 seconds left on the clock to secure the victory.
“I thought we worked hard, we did the little things that we could control really well and ended up wearing them down,” said Langley Thunder head coach Darcy Rhodes.
“As a ten-man unit our defence was strong, they did a great job of pushing the pace and grabbing the loose balls.”
Offensively, the Thunder were led by newcomer JP Kealey who had three goals and three assists, Brochu who scored twice and set up three others and James Rahe, who tallied a pair of goals on the evening. Brett Dobray and Justin Martin had the two other goals for Langley.
“We have three practices next week, we need to focus on building chemistry, learning each other’s tendencies and outworking our opponents,” said Rhodes.
“The boys are really excited to get back at it.”
