Shawn Slaght, All Lacrosse All The Time – A Division of the Edge of Philly Sports Network
The defending champion Langley Thunder cruised to a 20-5 win over the Burnaby Lakers in the WLA season opener on Wednesday night.
This game didn’t turn into much of a contest. Langley led 8-0 after the first period. Burnaby didn’t get on the board until the score was 11-0 in the second period.
All four goaltenders were used on Wednesday night. Frank Scigliano stopped 32 of 34 shots in just under 40 minutes of work for Langley, while Kyle Mooney played 20 minutes for the Thunder and allowed three goals on 18 shots.
On the other end of the floor, it was a rough night for Keegen Melenychuk and Brody Harris. They allowed 20 goals off of 64 shots.
Thunder jumped out to a huge lead
Robert Church opened the scoring for Langley at 6:55 followed by Dane Dobbie 27 seconds later to give the Thunder a 2-0 lead.
Keegan Bell’s solo effort shorthanded at 10:58 extended the lead to three. Chase Scanlan would follow that up 42 seconds later to make it 4-0.
Church scored his second of the period at 14:17 for Langley’s fifth goal. Tristan Kirkham found the back of the net unassisted at 15:33 and it was 6-0 for Langley.
Thirty-six seconds later, Jake Bowen would score Langley’s seventh goal. Jordan Magnuson scored rounded out the first period scoring to make it 8-0 Langley at the first break.
Lakers get on the board
Church scored his hat-trick goal only 52 seconds into the second quarter and the rout was on. Dobbie would add a pair of goals after that to make it 11-0 for Langley.
Wakerait Bowhunter finally got the Burnaby Lakers on the board 7:23 into the second period, but the momentum would be shortlived.
Dobbie, Church and Scanlan all scored in a span of 44 seconds as Langley led 14-1 at the halfway mark of the second.
Dobbie continued his hot streak with goals at 15:39 and 17:24 for Langley’s 15th and 16th goals.
Gordie Phillips found the back of the net with 47 seconds left in the second period for Burnaby, but the Lakers still trailed 16-2.
Defending champs pick up the ‘W’
Early in the third quarter, Scanlan would put the Thunder up by 15. The Lakers’ Jacob Dunbar put home a power play marker at 4:31, but Langley led 17-3.
Bowen put Langley back up by 15 at 8:28. However, Brandon Luitwieler’s individual effort at 9:43 narrowed the lead to 18-4.
Graydon Bradley and Curtis Dickson added markers midway through the third as the game was well out of reach at this point.
Bowhunter rounded out the scoring for Burnaby with 1:51 left on the clock, but the Thunder rolled to a 20-5 win in the WLA season opener.
Top Scorers
Langley Thunder
Robert Church, 4g 5a
Dane Dobbie, 6g 2a
Curtis Dickson, 1g 6a
Chase Scanlan, 3g 4a
Burnaby Lakers
Laszlo Henning, 3a
Wakerait Bowhunder, 2g 1a
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Shawn Slaght has been a sports reporter across the Canadian prairies for over 10 years and has experience covering everything from junior hockey to World Cup skiing to all levels of lacrosse. He is the Saskatchewan correspondent for All Lacrosse All The Time.
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