In a battle for first place in the WLA on Thursday night, the Langley Thunder came out on top 13-5 over the New Westminster Salmonbellies.
The win puts Langley all alone in first place with a record of 9-1 and have now won eight straight. Meanwhile, the ‘Bellies drop into second with a record of 7-2.
Frank Scigliano once again had an outstanding night in goal for Langley, stopping 41 of 46 shots for the win. Playing back-to-back nights, Scigliano allowed only eight goals total in both games.
The Salmonbellies went with Zach Higgins between the pipes on Thursday night. It was a rough game for him, allowing 13 goals on 49 shots.
Langley’s defence did an outstanding job silencing New Westminster’s offense. Ryan Martel has been solid for the Salmonbellies all season, but was held off the scoresheet on Thursday.
And again, Langley did all of this without the services of Curtis Dickson, who is competing to the World Men’s Lacrosse Championship in San Diego.
Thunder Dominate the First Period
Langley got off to a quick start, going up 4-0 in a span of 3:47. Dylan Kinnear continued his hot streak by opening the scoring 1:37 into the game.
On transition, Jake Boudreau found his Saskatchewan Rush teammate Bobby Kidd III at 2:25 to make it 2-0. Clay Scanlan found the back of the net 1:29 later for the Thunder.
Connor Robinson rounded out the four-goal run 5:24 into the first period.
New Westminster finally got on the board off an unassisted effort from Noah Armitage at 6:43. Nathanial Kozevnikov replied right back of Langley 1:04 later.
Drew Belgrave got the Salmonbellies back within three with an unassisted goal with 6:04 left on the clock. However, Dane Dobbie scored with 4:03 left to make it 6-2 for Langley at the first break.
New Westminster Shut Out in the Second
Dobbie’s goal before the end of the first quarter was the beginning of a six-goal run for the Thunder between the first, second and third periods.
New Westminster was shut out of the second period as Scigliano stopped all 15 shots he faced.
Robert Church opened the second period scoring 50 seconds into the frame to put Langley up by five.
Tre Mason would then take a pass from Scigliano and score on transition 9:41 and added a second marker 1:02 later.
Church rounded out the scoring with 2:02 left in the second on the power play to make it 10-2 for the Thunder heading into the final period.
Thunder Make It Eight Straight
Scanlan rounded out the Thunder’s six-goal run 1:37 into the third period as Langley was dominating 11-2.
The Salmonbellies ended their 27:42 goalless drought when Will Malcom found the back of the net.
Kinnear put the Thunder back up by eight at 8:40. However, the Salmonbellies attempted a late comeback. It started with Keegan Bal scoring with 9:33 left in the goal followed by Justin Salt, unassisted, with 7:55 left.
Church finished off the battle for first place by scoring 37 seconds later to make the final score 13-5.
Three Stars
- Robert Church, Langley Thunder
- Frank Scigliano, Langley Thunder
- Tre Mason, Langley Thunder
Top Scorers
Langley Thunder
Robert Church, 3g 5a
Connor Robinson, 1g 3a
Nathaniel Kozevnikov, 1g 3a
Clay Scanlan, 2g 2g
New Westminster Salmonbellies
Keegan Bal, 1g 1a
Noah Armitage, 1g 1a
Jason Jones, 1a
Drew Belgrave, 1g
Will Malcom, 1g
Justin Salt, 1g
Don’t forget to check us out every Sunday night at 9 pm (ET) on eopsports.com
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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