High five: Margetson pots five as Thunder double up Burrards

Langley Thunder captain Jack Margetson scored five times on Tuesday night as the Thunder defeated the Maple Ridge Burrards 10-5 in BC Junior Tier 1 Lacrosse League action at Langley Events Centre. Gary Ahuja Langley Events Centre photos

It may have been Jack Margetson getting the glory on Tuesday night, but the captain was quick to deflect credit.

Margetson tallied five times – the first time he has ever scored that many at any level – as the Langley Thunder made it three wins in a row, defeating the Maple Ridge Burrards 10-5 in BC Junior Tier 1 Lacrosse League action at Langley Events Centre.

“I have to give credit to my teammates – they were able to find me open and I was able to capitalize on their passes, so I appreciate that,” he said.

For much of the first period on Tuesday, the Thunder offence was held at bay, finally breaking through to tie the score at one when Margetson scored with 2:08 to play.

Langley went into the locker room tied at one, despite outshooting Maple Ridge 21-7 as the Burrards’ Sam Paterson seemingly had an answer for each of their chances.

The second period was a different story, however, as Langley put up six goals on 23 shots in that period alone.

“We talked about it as an offence collectively in the dressing room and went over it and then just capitalized on our opportunities,” Margetson said.

The Thunder power play was a huge factor in the game as each of the first four goals they scored in the game came with a Burrard in the penalty box, much to the delight of Thunder coach Darren Buchan.

“We are not going to play stupid lacrosse, we are going to play smart lacrosse and if they want to take penalties, we will score on the power play. It was nice for it to come through for us tonight,” he said.

Since starting the season 0-3, the Thunder have won seven of their past nine games and they sit at 7-5, good for fourth place in the standings with six games remaining in the regular season.

Buchan credits the defence – and the fact more players returned to the team these past few weeks – as credits for their success.

“Our defence has gotten a lot better. The last two games, we have only allowed five goals (in each game). And as our defence gets better, our offence starts to gel,” he said. “Getting a few guys back, everyone is starting to get in sync, which is nice to see.”

While Margetson scored half his team’s goals, Kanen Hunter finished with a two goals and five points. Erik Forsselius and Liam Taillefer had the other goals and Bailey Vanichuk had three assists. Noah Kozevnikov made 24 saves, 13 of which came in the third period as the Burrards tried to claw their way back from a 7-3 deficit.

Cole Lowe and Noah Bradley scored two goals apiece for Maple Ridge.

Up next for the Thunder is a road game in Ladner against the Delta Islanders on June 10 before they host the Coquitlam Adanacs on June 14 (7:30pm) at Langley Events Centre. The Islanders edged Langley 6-5 while Coquitlam won 9-4, with those two losses coming in the Thunder’s second and third games of the season.

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