Timbermen hand Thunder third straight loss

Langley Thunder's Aidan McDonald (#7), Leighton Gibson (left) and Marshall Gibson (right) close in on Nanaimo's Gord Phillips during WLA Senior A lacrosse action at Langley Events Centre on June 8. Garrett James Langley Events Centre photo

The Nanaimo Timbermen used a quick strike offence to overpower the Langley Thunder on Saturday night at Langley Events Centre.

Once in all three periods, the Timbermen scored a pair of goals in quick succession, tallying twice in 35 seconds in the opening frame, scoring two goals in a span of 24 seconds in the middle frame and then back-to-back goals 16 seconds in the final period.

That proved to be a big difference as the visiting Timbermen defeated the Thunder 15-10 on Saturday at Langley Events Centre in Western Lacrosse Association Senior A action.

With the win, the Timbermen improved to 3-1 while Langley saw their record drop to 1-4.

Langley never led the contest and after trailing 3-2 after one period, never got closer than a pair of goals with Nanaimo leading 8-6 after 40 minutes.

The teams traded goals to start the third, but the Timbermen went on a 4-0 run to create too much separation for the Thunder to overcome.

We talked about how important it was to start the third period and boom they score a couple of goals and it just deflates us,” said Thunder head coach Rod Jensen.

Connor Robinson led the home side with three goals and five points while Dane Dobbie made his season debut with two goals and two assists. Dylan Kinnear also added a pair while Brandon Clelland and Brad McCulley had a goal and an assist apiece and Aidan Milburn scored once. 

Nanaimo’s Colton Clark led the T-Men with three goals and six points while Nick Finlay also had a hat trick. Jon Phillips, Sean Tyrell and David Byrne each had a goal and three helpers and Cam Wengreniuk and Tyson Roe had two goals apiece.

And it wasn’t like Langley didn’t have opportunities to score, finishing with 62 shots to Nanaimo’s 59, including a 23-16 advantage in the first period. The Thunder power play was also perfect on all three of their opportunities.

Mike DeGirolamo finished with 52 saves in the Nanaimo net. Dan Lewis got the start finishing with 21 saves on 28 shots while Steve Fryer made 23 saves on 30 shots.

Up next for the Thunder is a home game on Wednesday (June 12) as they host the Maple Ridge Burrards. Game time is 7:30 p.m.

Jensen said the team can’t use injuries as an excuse for their struggles as there is no reason the effort shouldn’t be there, regardless of who is or isn’t in the line-up.

“We have to compete and execute and we are not getting that,” he said. “We need to do a lot better at this level in commitment and dedication in order to have success. It is not going to be easy.”

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For more information:

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