With a playoff berth secured, the Nanaimo senior B Timbermen have their sights set on a West Coast Senior Lacrosse Association regular season title.
One points currently separates Nanaimo from the first-place Ladner Pioneers in the standings and the two will meet Saturday night (July 11) at Frank Crane Arena.
.@Senior_B_Tmen get 2 points Sunday after #PortMoody forfeit. Host jr. B @LadnerPioneers Saturday, 1st place on line: http://t.co/hozJhexsFx
— Karl Yu (@KarlYuBulletin) July 9, 2015
The T-men are guaranteed a win Sunday (July 12) as the Port Moody Thunder have forfeited that game – Nanaimo will be credited with a 1-0 victory.
Nanaimo lost 5-3 at Ladner in April, and Mike Maughan, Nanaimo head coach, said it’s been a long wait for the rematch – his team knows how to play the Pioneers.
“We just know they’re a strong team, so it’s going to take a pretty consistent effort for the entire game,” said Maughan. “I mean we’ve been trying to preach all year long just having as consistent of a 60 minutes as we can. If we play as good as we know how, then we should be in good shape.”
In addition to the No. 1 spot overall, forward Jon Diplock can win the regular season scoring title as well. Diplock currently has 63 points.
Should Diplock score enough points for a comfortable scoring race lead, Maughan isn’t against resting Diplock.
“That’s the one tough thing with Jon … he’s got a huge heart and he just wants to be out there all the time, doing whatever he can. I’ve had times like that in the past, where as a coach, you want to protect him and rest him, but he’s a hard guy to pull off the floor,” said the coach.
GAME ON … The T-men and Pioneers play Saturday (July 11) at 7 p.m. at Frank Crane Arena.
