The Burnaby Lakers scored the first six goals and never looked back, hammering the Langley Thunder 14-6.
The Senior A rivals squared off on Friday night at Burnaby’s Bill Copeland Arena with the Lakers racing out to the early lead and coasting to victory.
The Thunder trailed 7-2 after one period but did play the Lakers even in the second with each team netting three goals to cut the deficit to 10-5. Langley would pull to within four goals to start the third but that was the last time they found the back of the net as Burnaby closed with four straight to win 14-6.
Burnaby improved to 6-2 while Langley sits at 2-7 in the Western Lacrosse Association standings.
Dylan Kinnear led the Thunder with a hat trick and four points while Coady Adamson had a goal and three helpers. Connor Robinson scored twice to complete Langley’s scoring.
The quartet of Scott Jones (four goals, six assists), Robert Church (three goals, five assists), Dane Stevens (three goals, three assists) and Darryl Veltman (two goals, four assists) inflicted the bulk of the Lakers damage, combining for a dozen goals and 30 points.
READ ALSO: Thunder shelled by Burrards in second half
The game marked the halfway point of Langley’s 18-game season. The team looks to bounce back when they host the Nanaimo Timbermen on Wednesday (June 26) at Langley Events Centre with a special 7 p.m. start time.
Junior Thunder downed by Nanaimo
After forcing overtime with a buzzer-beating shot and then scoring the first goal of the extra session, the Thunder could not hold on for the victory, suffering a critical defeat as their playoff hopes are left with no room for error and require some big-time help.
The Thunder were in Nanaimo on Saturday afternoon to face the Timbermen, one of the teams they are battling for a playoff berth in the BC Junior A Lacrosse League post-season.
READ ALSO: Langley Thunder edges Timbermen with 10-9 Victory
And after Caleb Pearson knotted the score at 10, scoring at 19:59 of regulation, the Thunder took an 11-10 lead on Dylan McIntosh’s seventh of the game. But Thomas Vaesen scored twice and Langley had no answer, suffering a 12-11 defeat.
The loss leaves the Thunder with a 10-8 record, two points back of second-place Victoria (11-5) and just two points up on fifth-place Nanaimo (9-5) while tied in points with third-place New Westminster (10-5). Langley has just three games remaining with all three of their rivals have games in hand, meaning the Thunder likely need to win out and hope at least one of those three does not surpass them.
Complicating matters is the fact both New Westminster and Nanaimo both won their season-series against the Thunder (Victoria did not), which is the first tiebreaker should the teams finish tied in points.
The Thunder do at least have the luxury of having their final three games all at home at Langley Events Centre, as they host Coquitlam on June 27, Delta on July 4 and then New Westminster on July 7.
In Saturday’s contest at the Nanaimo Ice Centre, the Timbermen held a slight 2-1 lead after 20 minutes before things opened up over the final 40 minutes of regulation. The teams were tied at five following the second period and then each scored five goals in the final frame to finish regulation knotted at 10.
Asides from McIntosh’s seven goals, Ryan Martel had a pair of goals and nine points and Clark Walter had a goal and three assists. Pearson had Langley’s other goal.
Cam Overby took the loss in net, allowing a dozen goals on 45 shots.
Vaesen finished with five goals and a helper for the T-Men with Arthur Miller delivering six assists. Ryan Sheridan chipping in with a goal and four helpers while Colton Lidstone and Jack Bowie had a pair of goals apiece.
Langley outshot Nanaimo 57-45 but Justin Geddie stood tall in the Timbermen net, finishing with 46 saves.
Tier 1 Thunder lose fifth straight
The losing streak has reached five games for the Langley Thunder Junior Tier 1 squad.
The most recent setback was Saturday at the Nanaimo Ice Centre as the Thunder dropped a 14-8 decision to the host Timbermen. The loss leaves Langley with a 5-10 record in the BC Junior Tier 1 Lacrosse League standings. Nanaimo improved to 7-7-1.
Nanaimo dominated the opening 40 minutes winning each of the first two periods by identical 5-1 scores. Langley did bounce back to win a high-scoring final frame 6-4.
READ ALSO: Delta hands Junior Tier 1 Thunder fourth straight defeat
Jack Margetson, a call-up for the contest, led Langley with two goals and two helpers while Tristan Kirkham had a pair of goals and an assist. Chase Moore, Josh Brunsch, Jordan Daniel and Nathan Lavigne chipped in with a goal apiece.
Both goaltenders saw action in the Thunder net with Dryden Recsky stopping 32 of 42 shots while Noah Kozevnikov stopped four of eight shots.
Kyle Drouin led the T-Men with three goals and 10 points while Riley Arsenault had four goals and eight points. The Thunder are back in action on Tuesday (June 25) against New Westminster.
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