Thunder rally late, slow down Roadrunners

Langley Thunder's Liam Taillefer (#19) checks his Richmond Roadrunners opponent during BC Junior Tier 1 Lacrosse League action at Langley Events Centre on May 10. The Thunder scored twice late in the third-period for the 10-9 victory. Ryan Molag Langley Events Centre photos 

Goals 19 seconds apart helped the Langley Thunder rally for their first victory of the BC Junior Tier 1 Lacrosse League season.

The Thunder were hosting the Richmond Roadrunners on Tuesday (May 10) at Langley Events Centre and found themselves trailing by a goal in the late in the third period before Teagan Dunnett tied the score with 3:05 to play and Bailey Vanichuk potted the winner on the next shift for the 10-9 victory.

Langley outshot Richmond 58-35 and needed a five-goal third period to earn the win, improving to 1-3 on the season while the Roadrunners fell to 0-2.

“Really proud of the kids … they just kept battling and battling and pulled it out in the end,” said Thunder head coach Darren Buchan. “Richmond would not go away (and) instead of buckling, they persevered. I think that is a real confidence boost to build on.”

The game was tied at three after one period and Richmond was ahead 6-5 with 20 minutes to play before the Thunder went ahead 7-6 with half a period to play. But the Roadrunners tied the score shortly thereafter and then struck for goals 55 seconds apart with just six minutes remaining, setting the stage for Langley’s comeback.

While earning their first victory of the season was a good step in the right direction, Buchan liked the fact the team had to battle for the hard-fought two points.

“I am happy we were able to get that first win – that was big – but the way we won, the battle, that was bigger,” he said.

One area the coach stressed needed improvement was staying out of the penalty box as the Thunder were whistled for 10 infractions and allowed three power play goals.

Hudson Zazelenchuk and Noah Buchan paced the Thunder attack with a pair of foals apiece while Vaughn Pinchin, Liam Taillefer, Tanner Berreth and Curtis Goode scored one goal each. Buchan, Goode and Vanichuk each finished with three-point games.

Noah Kozevnikov made 26 saves in the Thunder net.

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