High 5: Church scores five for third straight game

For the third straight game, Robert Church scored five goals as his Langley Thunder were 11-7 winners over the visiting Nanaimo Timbermen on July 17 at Langley Events Centre in Western Lacrosse Association action. Ryan Molag photo

Robert Church’s remarkable run continues.

For the third straight game, Church scored five times as his Langley Thunder posted a massive 11-7 win over the visiting Nanaimo Timbermen on Wednesday night (July 17) at Langley Events Centre in Western Lacrosse Association action.

The victory improved the Thunder to 7-7-1 and 15 points, which puts them in second place in the seven-team league. The top four qualify for the post-season but only six points separate second place Langley from seventh spot, which is held by Nanaimo at 4-8-1 and nine points.

Church has been on a tear since being named to the final Lacrosse Canada roster for the 2024 World Box Lacrosse Championships with 15 goals and 22 points over his last three games.

For his part, Church downplayed his hot run since earning a spot to wear his country’s colours as just a coincidence and even a bit lucky.

“When you are scoring that many goals, you are getting a little lucky. The ball is just going in for me right now so hopefully I can keep it up and the luck doesn’t run out,” he said.

“He is a world-class lacrosse player. He’s one of those guys that when he is out there, you are confident good things are going to happen. He just has the patience, he’s calm and you know that he has the ability. It is nice to watch and be a part of,” said Langley coach Ian Poole.

The Thunder swept all three stars with Church taking top honours after his five goal, seven-point effort, captain Connor Robinson earning the second star with a goal and five helpers and goaltender Aden Walsh being named the third star following his 47-save effort (.870 save percentage) as Langley was outshot 54-41.

Robinson started the season on injured reserve but in the six games since his return, he has eight goals and 29 points, with the Thunder also winning four of those contests.

Poole said the combination of having both Church (5.0 points per game) and Robinson (4.8 ppg) in the line-up has a calming effect on a relatively new/young Thunder roster.

“They have been around and been in high-pressure situations and you can see the calmness and it just helps with settling everyone and keeping that composure,” the coach said.

Clay Scanlan (2-2) and Nathan Lam (0-4) both had four-point games while Charles Scanlan (1-2), Nathaniel Kozevnikov (1-1) and Kordell Primus (1-1) had the other Thunder goals.

Zach Manns led the Timbermen with two goals and three helpers while Taggart Clark chipped in with two goals and an assist. Colby Bowman stopped 30 of the 41 Thunder shots.

Langley never trailed in the contest, scoring the opening three goals and leading by two or more the rest of the way as they were up 4-1 after a period and 7-4 through 40 minutes. The Timbermen did cut the lead to 7-5 71 seconds into the third, but as was the case following each of Nanaimo’s first five goals, Langley answered within three minutes. The only time the Thunder allowed back-to-back goals came in the final three minutes.

“Stopping the runs is huge; just making sure you don’t let a team go on 3, 4-goal runs because they are hard, especially for that momentum (it gives the other team),” Poole said.

Since starting the season at 1-5, Langley has rebounded to go 6-2-1 over the next nine games. It sets up a massive sprint to the finish line as six teams jockey for three playoff positions with the Victoria Shamrocks (13-0) having already clinched top spot.

It should make for a compelling final two weeks to the regular season.

“It is tight (and) no one is out of it, which is good for the league and good to keep games competitive. It is going to be fun for the fans and the teams to cheer on down the stretch,” Church said.

The Thunder are off until July 24 when they host the first-place Victoria Shamrocks at Langley Events Centre. Game time is set for 7:00pm. It is the start of a home-and-home series between the two teams as they will also meet in Victoria four days later (July 28).

-30-