WLA 
Thunder take Game 3
Nathan Lam scored twice and set up three others in the Langley Thunder's 11-8 win in Maple Ridge over the Burrards on on Aug. 10. The Thunder lead the best-of-five Western Lacrosse Association semi-final series 2-1. Ryan Molag file photo
A five-goal run proved to be the difference as the Langley Thunder are one win away from a spot in the Western Lacrosse Association Finals.
Trailing 5-4 in the second period, the Thunder scored goals 29 apart ahead of intermission and then opened the third with a trio of goals in a span of 1:51 as they defeated the Maple Ridge Burrards 11-8.
The game was played at Maple Ridge’s Cam Neely Arena and the Thunder now hold a 2-1 advantage in the best-of-five WLA semi-final series. They will look to close out the Burrards in Game 4 on Monday (August 12) at Langley Events Centre with the game beginning at 7:30pm. Should Maple Ridge stave off elimination and force a deciding game on August 14 at Cam Neely Arena.
Game 3 saw the teams trade goals with Langley taking their first lead at 4-3 early in the second. Maple Ridge would answer back with a pair less than a minute apart to pull ahead 5-4.
Nathan Lam tallied twice 29 seconds apart to put the Thunder ahead for good before the second intermission with Kordell Primus and Charles Scanlan opening the third with two goals, this time in 28 seconds. Clay Scanlan pushed the advantage to 9-5 with Maple Ridge’s Rhys Porteous finally ending the Thunder run. The Burrards were unable to build off that however, as Chase Scanlan quickly answered back with Matt Abbott rounding out the Langley scoring before the Burrards tallied twice in the final 2:15 with both goals coming while they had their goalie pulled for the extra attacker.
Chase Scanlan was the game’s first star following his two goal, eight-point effort. For the series, he leads the team with 23 points. Clay Scanlan – the game’s third star – finished with a hat trick and an assist, while Nathan Lam had a pair of goals and five points.
Charles Scanlan (1-2), Connor Robinson (1-1), Lam (1-2) and Kyle Brunsch (0-2) all had multi-point games with Primus and Abbott rounding out the scoring with a goal apiece.
Robinson leads Langley with eight goals through the series and Abbott was making his series debut, winning 15 of 21 face-offs.
In net, Caleb Khan stopped 30 of 38 shots for the Thunder while the Burrards’ Brandon Humphrey was the busier of the two goals, making 46 saves on 57 shots. Porteous led the team with three goals and five points and was the second star. Dylan McIntosh also had a hat trick with Ryan Jones (1-2) and Drew Andre (1-0) scoring once apiece.
Neither team was able to score on their power-play opportunities as Langley was 0-for-4 while Maple Ridge went 0-for-3.
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