Thunder eliminate Burrards, advance to WLA Finals

Evan Pattison (#32) and the Langley Thunder defence held the Maple Ridge Burrards to six goals in a 7-6 Game 4 victory to win the Western Lacrosse Association semi-final series 3-1. Gary Ahuja photo

Chase Scanlan had a hand in all seven goals – including scoring the game-winner – and the Langley Thunder are through to the Western Lacrosse Association Finals.

Scanlan scored his fourth of the game with just over six minutes to play, snapping a tie game as the Thunder edged the Maple Ridge Burrards 7-6 on Monday night at Langley Events Centre in Game 4 with Langley winning the best-of-five series 3-1.

“We know the win-the-series game is always tough to win, home or away. We just knew that we had to come out and give it everything we had. The guys buckled down, they worked hard for each other, they battled, and we got the result we were looking for,” said Langley coach Ian Poole.

A big factor in the series was the play of Scanlan as he finished with 11 goals and 19 assists, contributing a point on a staggering 67 percent of his team’s 45 goals over the four games.

“I just have to give credit to my teammates, working their butts off for me,” Scanlan said, deflecting the praise.

“Chase has just stepped up and been a big player for us, throughout the whole season, and in the playoffs, he has really taken that role on. A big-time player,” Poole added.

The Thunder wasted little time on Monday with Connor Robinson intercepting a Maple Ridge clearing pass, setting up Scanlan in all alone to open the scoring at the :59 mark. After Maple Ridge tied things up, Langley added three more for a 4-1 lead at intermission.

The second period saw the Burrards battle back with four of the next five goals, evening the score before Nathaniel Kozevnikov put the home side back up heading into the third. Maple Ridge again pulled level, setting the stage for Scanlan’s fourth of the game to close things out.

Scanlan was the first star following his four goals and three assists with Kozevnikov scoring twice and Robinson adding the other. Matt Abbott was dominant on face-offs, winning possession for his team on 13 of the 16 draws. Goaltender Caleb Khan was the third star thanks to a 41-save performance as the Thunder were out-shot 47-44.

Khan is a 17-year-old call-up who just completed the first of his five seasons of Junior lacrosse last month. He finished the series with a 9.11 goals against average and an .806 save percentage.

“Our goalie, he is a young kid, but he has the confidence. He is ready to go and ready to play and you can tell he has ice in his veins. Things don’t really rattle him,” Poole said.

Garret Winter (who was the second star) and Rhys Porteous each had two goals and one assist with Ethan M’Lot and Ryan Jones adding a goal apiece. Brandon Humphrey made 37 saves.

Langley now awaits the winner of the Victoria Shamrocks and New Westminster Salmonbellies series with the Shamrocks currently leading 2-1 in the best-of-five.

-30-