Thunder hit season's halfway mark this weekend

A pair of games in a span of 24 hours is the task at hand for the Langley Thunder.

The senior A lacrosse team hits the road for a pair of games, Saturday in Coquitlam and Sunday in Maple Ridge, in what could be a season-defining moment for the young squad.

The Thunder will pass the halfway mark of the 18-game Western Lacrosse Association this weekend as they play games nine and 10, respectively.

And through eight games, Langley is 2-5-1, but just two points back of the fourth-place Nanaimo Timbermen in the race for the final WLA playoff berth. The Thunder do have a game in hand, which they will use this weekend.

“We are starting to come together. It is nice when you have some of the veterans like Dobbie and Billings in the line-up,” said Tyler Pace, who had three goals in the team’s last game, a 10-10 tie versus Nanaimo.

“They have that experience and leadership, so the young guys follow suit. We are all adjusting, a lot of rookies, second year guys, but we will get there.”

The Thunder led for most of that game, but could not come up with the victory, costing the team the season-series in a potential tiebreaker.

“I thought it was the most consistent game for our goaltending and our defence this season. We played three periods,” said Langley coach Rod Jensen. “I thought we played well. It is just unfortunate we didn’t get over the top.”

Langley is at the Poirier Sports & Leisure Complex on Saturday to face the Adanacs at 7 p.m. before playing at the Cam Neely Arena in Maple Ridge versus the Burrards on Sunday at 6:45 p.m.

“It is not easy playing one game, let alone two, so the biggest thing is just take care of our bodies Saturday night but don’t look past Coquitlam because our season series is on the line there,” Pace said.

The Thunder needed a third-period rally to edge the 1-6 Adanacs 8-7 earlier this month. A victory would give Langley the season-series over Coquitlam.

The Burrards are 5-2-0-1 and in second place and they defeated Langley 16-9 back in the season’s second week.

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For more information:

Gary Ahuja, Langley Events Centre, 604.613.5242 (cell), 604.455.8830 (office) or email.