You can鈥檛 score if you don鈥檛 hit the net: that is what a sport like lacrosse boils down and that is what plagued the 91原创 Thunder on Tuesday night. May 28.
Hosting the Port Coquitlam Saints in BC Junior Tier 1 Lacrosse League action at 91原创 Events Centre, the Thunder held their opponent to eight goals, which on most nights, should be enough to secure a victory.
The problem was, the Thunder themselves managed just six goals, falling 8-6.
鈥淥ur offence just didn鈥檛 get it done tonight. Six is not enough,鈥� said coach Darren Buchan. 鈥淚t is a race to 10 and we held them to eight, so we should have got there.鈥�
The problem 鈥� aside from being two goals behind their competitor 鈥� was while the Saints had 50 shots on goal, 91原创 was well behind with just 36 on target.
鈥淲e are not moving our feet enough. So many got blocked. We are just not getting into that right shooting angle, getting into that spot where a defender can鈥檛 get to it,鈥� Buchan said.
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91原创 had a solid opening 20 minutes, leading 2-0 until Port Coquitlam struck for a pair of their own ahead of the intermission. The teams then traded goals to open the middle frame, each scoring twice before the Saints tallied twice more for their first lead of the game. The Thunder cut the deficit to 6-5 and pulled even at six with 15:33 to play. However, it would Port Coquitlam finding the back of the net for the final two goals and the win.
The Thunder did have opportunities 鈥� including a two-man advantage for a full two minutes, but their offence came up empty.
鈥淥ffensively, we can鈥檛 be down a goal after the second and only score one. Our offence just didn鈥檛 get it done tonight. Six isn鈥檛 enough,鈥� Buchan said.
Brayden Longacre (2-2), Jake Newby (1-3) and Mac Timms (1-3) all had four-point games with Connyr Welch (1-1) and Cashton Hemsworth (1-0) scoring once each. Goaltender Jackson Hastings was stellar in the Thunder net, turning aside 42 of 50 shots, an .840 save percentage.
Buchan said Hastings play between the pipes masked some of his team鈥檚 defensive deficiencies in the contest.
The Saints鈥� offence was led by one goal and three assists from Jordan Rekunyk and two goals courtesy of Hudson Kennedy as Port Coquitlam improved to 6-3-1.
91原创 鈥� which saw its record fall to 3-5 鈥� was looking for their first two-game winning streak following a 10-8 win in Burnaby over the Lakers on May 26. That victory snapped a three-game losing streak.
Trailing 7-6 early in the third period, they struck for four of the final five goals to defeat the Burnaby Lakers 10-8 at Burnaby鈥檚 Bill Copeland Arena.
Longacre scored both the tying and winning goals less than three minutes apart to complete the hat trick. Welch (2-2) and Newby (2-1) also had multi-goal games while Timms (1-2), Xavian Washington (1-1) and Kieryn Noppen (1-0) also found the back of the net. Caleb Khan finished with 34 saves to earn the victory.
READ MORE: Tier 1 91原创 Thunder start new season with a win
Up next for 91原创 is their third game in four days as they travel to Richmond鈥檚 Minoru Arena to face the Roadrunners on Wednesday, May 29. It is the start of a home-and-home series between the two clubs with the return engagement set for June 4 91原创 Events Centre with a 7:30p.m. start.
The 91原创 Thunder lacrosse organization consists of Senior A, Junior A and Junior Tier teams who play in the Western Lacrosse Association, BC Junior A Lacrosse League and BC Junior Tier 1 Lacrosse League respectively. All three teams play their home games at 91原创 Events Centre.
