WLA 
WLA Finals Preview: Thunder set for Shamrock showdown
What a turnaround for the Langley Thunder.
Through the first six games of the Western Lacrosse Association season, the Senior A squad sat at 1-5, putting them closer to contention for the top overall pick in next year’s junior draft then a spot in the four-team playoff field.
But as the team got healthy and their roster questions settled, Langley displayed a remarkable turnaround, finishing the rest of the regular season 7-4-1 to place third in the standings (8-9-1). Combine that with their 3-1 series victory over the second-place Maple Ridge Burrards in the best-of-five semi-final round, and the Thunder posted a .656 winning percentage over their past 16 games.
Up next for the team is their third straight appearance in the WLA Finals as they match up against the first-place Victoria Shamrocks.
Path to the WLA Finals
An 8-9-1 record during the regular season earned the Thunder a first-round series against the second-seed Maple Ridge Burrards, who finished one point ahead of Langley at 9-9-0.
And the Burrards used home-floor advantage in Game 1, scoring the final three goals for the 12-10 victory. The series then shifted to Langley Events Centre for Game 2 and after a slow start saw the Thunder trail 5-2 through 20 minutes, the Langley offence awoke, scoring 15 goals over the final two periods for a 17-11 win, the largest margin of victory in the series.
Back in Maple Ridge for Game 3, Langley went on a 5-0 run over a span of 8:21 spanning the second and third periods on their way to a 11-8 win to take the series lead. And in the clincher, Chase Scanlan scored the winner in the third period as the Thunder moved on thanks to a 7-6 victory.
Scanlan was a force all series, leading the team with 11 goals and 19 assists and registering a point on 30 of Langley’s 45 goals (67 percent). Robert Church added four goals and 19 points in just three games (6.3 points per game) with Connor Robinson (9-8), Charles Scanlan (5-6) and Clay Scanlan (4-7) also reaching double figures in the series.
In goal, 17-year-old Junior call-up Caleb Khan was the primary goaltender for all four games, posting a 9.11 goals against average to go along with an .806 save percentage.
Langley had a -9 goal differential over the regular season and were +8 over their four-game series against Maple Ridge.
On the Shamrock side of things, Victoria was a perfect 18-0-0 in the regular season, leading the league in goals for (197), goals against (126) and goal differential (+71). The Shamrocks were pushed to the limit in their first-round series against the New Westminster Salmonbellies, prevailing 11-8 in the fifth and deciding game.
New Westminster led 3-1 before the Shamrocks scored six straight, building a multi-goal lead the rest of the way.
The home team won each game in the series with the first two needing overtime -- 15-14 for the Shamrocks and 10-9 for the Salmonbellies – before Victoria won 8-4 in Game 3 and New Westminster countered with a 9-8 win to force a deciding game.
Jesse and Marshal King led Victoria in scoring over the series with 25 (7-18) and 24 (8-16) points, respectively, while Patrick Dodds (13 points) tied Marshal King for the goal-scoring lead with eight apiece. Mathieu Gautier, Clarke Petterson and Casey Wilson each finished with 11 points.
In goal, Chris Origlieri – the WLA Top Goalie during the regular season – finished with an 8.38 goals against average and an .849 save percentage.
Special Teams
During the regular season, Langley’s power play was third (35-for-79, 44 percent) while Victoria was fourth (40-for-98, 41 percent) while the Shamrocks had the top-ranked penalty kill (19-for-76, 75 percent) and the Thunder were second (64 percent).
During their respective first-round series, each team scored six power-play goals with Langley having 19 chances (32 percent) compared to Victoria’s 20 (30 percent). On the penalty kill, the Shamrocks allowed six goals on 18 chances (67 percent) and the Thunder conceded six goals on 13 chances (54 percent).
Regular Season Head-to-Head
The Shamrocks swept the season series 3-0 with two of the three games in Victoria.
Victoria won the season opener 12-6 on May 24 before the teams played a home-and-home series with the Shamrocks earning a 11-6 victory at Langley Events Centre on July 24 and then edging the Thunder 10-8 on July 28.
Previous Playoff History
The Thunder are making their third straight appearance in the WLA Finals, winning the championship in 2022 in five games over the Nanaimo Timbermen before having their repeat bid fall short in seven games last summer to New Westminster.
Langley and Victoria last faced off in the post-season in the 2022 semi-finals with the Thunder prevailing in six games. The Shamrocks last won the WLA title in 2019 and this is the teams’ first time meeting in the WLA Finals since 2013.
-30-