Thunder (Team White) go 1-1 at WLA Future Stars event

Fourteen members of the Langley Thunder were selected to take part in the WLA Xtreme Future Stars Event on August 7 at the Poirier Sport and Leisure Complex in Coquitlam. Front row (left to right): Harrison Smith, Quinn McKitrick, Keegan Bell, Jordan Roberts, Aidan Ellis, Cal Slade, Aaron Skye, Thomas Vaesen, Jordan Trottier and Erik Maas; Back row (left to right): Matt Brunsch, Gordon Bowden, Caleb Pearson and Nathaniel Kozevnikov. Langley Thunder photo

At long last, members of the Langley Thunder Senior A Thunder were finally able to step on the floor for some Western Lacrosse Association action.

Fourteen members of the Thunder made up the majority of Team White on Saturday (August 7) afternoon as part of the WLA Xtreme Future Stars event heled at the Poirier Sport and Leisure Complex in Coquitlam. The event was sponsored by Xtreme Threads.

The event consisted of 54 players born between 1997 and 1999 from the seven WLA clubs who were divided into three teams: Team White, Team Black and Team Gold.

Team White was made up primarily of Thunder players with an all-Langley coaching staff as head coach Rob Jensen ran the bench with Dave Pym and Chris Hackle serving as assistants.

Caleb Pearson, Cal Slade, Quinn McKitrick, Thomas Vaesen, Jordan Roberts, Erik Maas, Aaron Skye, Aidan Ellis, Harrison Smith, Keegan Bell, Nathaniel Kozevnikov, Jordan Trottier, Matt Brunsch and Gordon Bowden were the Langley players on Team White and they were joined by Burnaby Lakers’ Kieran McKay as well as New Westminster Salmonbellies’ Kyle Mooney, who split goaltending duties with Bowden.

Each team played two games with Team White doubling Team Black 8-4 in the first game of the day before Team Gold blanked Team Black 8-0 in the middle game. The final game of the day was also the closest contest of the three with Team Gold edging team White 7-6.

Team Gold featured players from five of the seven WLA clubs with five members of the Salmonbellies, four apiece from the Lakers and Nanaimo Timbermen, three from the Victoria Shamrocks and two Coquitlam Adanacs. The coaching staff featured Victoria’s Mike Simpson and Pat Coyle and Jason Bishop of the host Adanacs.

Team Black was predominantly made up of Maple Ridge Burrards with 13 Burrards on the roster, who were joined by three members of the Lakers and a payer apiece form New Westminster and Victoria. Maple Ridge’s Rob Williams and Zack Porter ran the bench.

Saturday’s showcase also featured the WLA Xtreme Junior Showcase, consisting of 46 final-year players from the BC Junior A Lacrosse League. The players were divided into two teams with Team Black (featuring Langley Junior A Thunder players Ronaldo Tomas and Ryan Jensen) defeating Team White (which had the Thunder’s Trevayne Hunter and goaltender Dryden Recsky) 15-6. Jensen, Pym and Hackle also ran the bench for Team White.

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