The Langley Thunder evened their record to 1-1 on Saturday with a 9-6 road win over the Coquitlam Adanacs in Western Lacrosse Association action at the Coquitlam Sports Centre.

Alex Turner led the Thunder with two goals and three assists in the victory, while Dustin Doudelet tallied twice and added a pair of helpers.

Lewis Ratcliff was also a big contributor with two goals and an assist.

Thunder goaltender Brodie MacDonald made 37 saves to earn the victory.

 

Salmonbellies edge Thunder

Usually, if you only give up six goals in a lacrosse game, your team will end up on the winning side of the ledger.

Such wasn’t the case for the Thunder, who  were edged 6-5 by the New Westminster Salmonbellies in their WLA home opener last Wednesday at the Langley Events Centre.

In his first career WLA start, New Westminster netminder Eric Penney had an outstanding night, stopping 41 of 46 shots to earn the game’s second star selection.

Forward Pat Saunders led the Thunder with four points (one goal, three assists) while Joel McCready chipped in with a pair of assists in the loss.

“We didn’t execute very well,” Thunder head coach Rod Jensen said. “We turned the ball over a lot in the second period and they capitalized on it. It was one of those nights where the unforced errors hurt us.”

“We didn’t capitalize on our opportunities,” Langley captain Matt Leveque added. “There was a little bit of rust and the chemistry is not quite there yet but it will come.”

New Westminster opened the scoring when Kyle Ross scored on a point-blank chance in front of the net at 2:51 of the first period.

A few minutes later, Colton Clark scored to make it 2-0 for the visitors.

Thunder rookie Anthony Malcom then scored his first career WLA goal to cut the deficit to 2-1.

The teams would exchange goals late in the first period with Jacob Ruest scoring with 50 seconds left in the opening frame as his shot from the outside trickled past Penney, but Langley still trailed 3-2 after the first period.

Saunders scored 58 seconds into the second frame to tie the game at 3-3 before the Salmonbellies answered with three straight goals including a powerplay marker from Jordan McBride.

The Thunder would get one back with 3:16 left in the period as Steve Hinek made it 6-4 after forty minutes.

The third period was a defensive battle with no goals coming until 1:50 remaining in the period when Alex Turner scored his first of the season, wiring one past Penney to cut the New Westminster lead to 6-5.

The Salmonbellies goaltender made key stops throughout the game including a few late in the third period as they pick up their first win of the season.

“We had some good chances but Penney made some great saves,” Jensen said. “The fact that we turned the ball over too much really took the wind out of our sails.”

MacDonald earned third-star of the game honours.

The Thunder’s play again tonight when they visit the Bill Copeland Sports Centre in Burnaby to play the Burnaby Lakers. Game time is 7:45 p.m.

Langley’s senior A squad has little time to rest as they return home tomorrow night (Wednesday, June 3) to play the Adanacs.

Game time is 7:45 p.m. at the LEC.

Langley Advance