Langley wraps up season series with Burrards in Maple Ridge

by Gary Ahuja

The Langley Thunder head across the Golden Ears Bridge in search of a second straight road victory tonight in Maple Ridge at Cam Neely Arena.

It will be the third and final regular season meeting between the two Western Lacrosse Association rivals with Langley looking to sweep the season series.

The Thunder (7-5) are coming off an 11-7 road win over the Burnaby Lakers while the Burrards (1-10) aim to snap an eight-game losing streak.

Game time is at 7:00pm and can be streamed at www.wlalacrosse.com/wlatv

Previous Game

Langley scored the first six goals to build an early lead and after the Lakers battled back to tie the score in the third, the Thunder closed things out with the final four goals in an 11-7 win.

Connor Robinson led the way for Langley with three goals and eight points while both Curtis Dickson (two goals, three assists) and Robert Church (one goal, four assists) had five-point games.

The Burrards were on the wrong end a 10-6 score at home to New Westminster on July 12 with Will Clayton scoring twice and finishing with five points.

Offence

When it comes to points per game, Langley has three players among the league leaders as Dane Dobbie sits second at 5.3, while Dickson and Robinson are tied for third at 4.8.

Dickson is also second in assists (35) and points (58) and tied for fourth in goals (23). Dobbie is second in goals (25) third in points (53) and fifth in assists (28).

As a team, the Thunder are averaging 9.9 goals per game, just ahead of the Burrards’ 9.6.

Dennon Armstrong leads Maple Ridge in goals (19), assists (23) and points (42).

Goaltending 

Frank Scigliano has played the last two games in goal for Langley and has a 9.08 goals against average and .823 save percentage, ranking second among eligible goaltenders in the latter stat and third in GAA. He is also fourth in total saves with 359.

Steve Fryer has made one appearance this season and boasts a 7.00 GAA and .860 save percentage.

For the Burrards, rookie Brandon Humphrey sits fifth in the league in total saves with 283 as well as fifth in save percentage at .793.

Special Teams

Langley’s power play is tops in the WLA as they have cashed in on exactly half their opportunities, (30-for-60, .500) while the Burrards come in at sixth with 24 goals on 68 chances (.353). And the Thunder penalty kill sits third in the league (.589) while Maple Ridge again comes in at sixth (.556). Langley has allowed 23 power play goals while the Burrards have surrendered 24.

Head-to-Head

The teams met in their respective season openers back on May 29 with Chase Scanlan scoring six times, including the winner late in regulation, for a 13-12 Thunder victory.

The second game of the season series was in Langley on July 6 with the Thunder scoring 14 times in the third period for the 19-6 victory. Dobbie (five goals, seven assists) and Dickson (five goals, four assists) led the way as each players had a five-goal game.

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