Thunder rout Burrards in regular season home finale

Langley's Cashton Hemsworth carries the ball out of his own end during the Junior Tier 1 Thunder's 22-6 win over the Maple Ridge Burrards on June 17 at Langley Events Centre. Ryan Molag photo

While they were comfortably ahead 5-0 after 20 minutes, a second-period surge saw the Langley Junior Tier 1 Thunder put the game well out of reach on Tuesday night.

The Thunder scored 11 times in the middle frame for an emphatic 22-6 win over the visiting Maple Ridge Burrards in BC Junior Tier 1 Lacrosse League action at Langley Events Centre.

Twice this season – both at home -- Langley had managed 10 goals in a period, but the 11 becomes their new benchmark. The 22 goals also match a season-high for the Thunder.

“The boys were finding their groove (that period),” said Thunder coach Connar Abrams. “It is awesome to watch these guys work together out there.”

The win improved the Thunder to 12-4 and with the top six teams qualifying for the post-season, Langley would likely earn one of the two first-round byes with wins in their last games, both of which come on the road.

“That is always the goal. Anytime we can give our guys the break, … that is always what you want,” Abrams said. “But if it us playing in the first round, then that is what it has to be. Then it just adds a little blue collar to our game, and we are going to come out tougher from it.”

The Thunder were coming off a 12-11 loss the previous week (June 10) at home to the Delta Islanders with the visitors scoring in the final minute for the victory.

“A few of those losses have been one-goal losses, last-minute losses. It sucks but you learn a lot from it,” Abrams said, referencing the fact that only one of his team’s four losses was by multi-goals (three).

Game Stats: Max Goller led the Thunder attack with five goals and seven points while Jake Newby (2-5) and Mason Eastgate (1-5) both had five assist-outings. Jacob Glass had a hat trick with both Logan Claxton and Max Larsen finishing with two-goal, five-point nights. Colten Lifton and Ryan Sheldrake both had two-goals with Evan Varley, Cooper Arbuthnot and Grayson Pinchin finishing with a goal apiece.

Arjun Gill was between the pipes for Langley, making 29 saves on 35 shots.

Tristan Pritchard led the Burrards with two goals and two assists.

Next Game: Langley wraps up the regular season with a pair of road games: in Burnaby against the Lakers on June 22 and then on June 25 in Coquitlam against the Adanacs. The BC Junior Tier 1 Lacrosse League regular season wraps up on July 2.

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