Streaking Timbermen win fifth straight; snap Thunder's three-game win streak

Robert Church scored four times but the Langley Thunder fell 12-9 to the Nanaimo Timbermen in Western Lacrosse Association action at Langley Events Centre on July 13. Ryan Molag Langley Events Centre photo

Jerome Thompson’s shot from the top of the circle with the shot clock winding down found a sliver of space between goaltender Frank Scigliano’s shoulder and the cross bar for what turned out to the winning goal.

Thompson’s goal broke a 9-9 tie with under two minutes remaining and triggered three goals in a span of 65 seconds as the visiting Nanaimo Timbermen defeated the Langley Thunder 12-9 on Wednesday night at Langley Events Centre.

It was Nanaimo’s fifth-straight win while the Thunder saw their three-game win streak come to an end. The Timbermen now also sit in top spot in the WLA with a 9-5 record and 18 points while the Thunder are in fourth place at 6-5.

Langley led just twice in the game – 1-0 early in the first period and then again at 7-6 late in the second – but otherwise spent the rest of the game playing from behind.

“Just a few bounces here and there, but that is just lacrosse. We had a chance when it was tied and then we came down and took a penalty and they scored right away, and it just got away from us,” said Langley’s Dylan Kinnear.

“We were down quite a few times and battled back. We fought the whole way; just a couple more bounces and we will be fine,” he added. “Just stick with it and stay the course and we will be fine.”

Nanaimo was ahead 3-2 following one period with the score tied at seven through 40 minutes.

Robert Church led the Thunder offence with four goals and five points while Curtis Dickson had a goal and four helpers. Dylan Kinnear scored twice with Dane Dobbie (one goal, three assists) and Connor Robinson (one goal, two assists) rounding out the offence.

Scigliano made 44 saves on 56 shots while his counterpart, Devlin Shanahan stopped 43 of 52 shots. Zach Manns led the Timbermen offence with three goals and five points while Will Johansen, Teioshontateh McComber and Adam Wiedemann each had two goals and three assists.

It was the third and final regular season meeting between the two teams with Langley winning the first two back on June 11 (10-9 in Nanaimo) and June 15 (8-6 in Langley).

“Hats off to (Nanaimo),” said Thunder coach Rod Jensen. “They are athletic, and we knew we had to match their energy and athleticism. We just have to keep battling hard; maybe cut down on a few of our turnovers.”

Having played five straight home games. the Thunder now embark on a string of three straight road games, beginning Friday (July 15) in Burnaby. The team’s next home game at Langley Events Centre will be July 27 (7:30pm) when they face the Coquitlam Adanacs.

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