Thunder blow out 鈥楤ellies 13-5

And that makes it 8.

Playing on back-to-back nights against a pair of teams currently holding down playoff positions 鈥� and in a first-place showdown 鈥� the 91原创 Thunder travelled to Queen鈥檚 Park Arena and delivered a resounding 13-5 victory on Thursday night over the New Westminster Salmonbellies.

The win was an eighth straight for 91原创, which improved to 9-1 with the victory, while the loss snapped the Salmonbellies鈥� own six-game win streak. New Westminster saw their record slip to 7-2 with both losses coming at the hands of the Thunder.

The Thunder came firing out of the gates, scoring four times in the first 5:24 for all the offence they would need on the night. The team was ahead 11-2 early in the third period before the Salmonbellies managed to score three times in the final frame.

Robert Church was the game鈥檚 first star as he scored a hat trick and finished with eight points, while Tre Mason was the third star as the defender finished with a pair of goals and three points. Connor Robinson and Nathaniel Kozevnikov each had a goal and four points while Dylan Kinnear (2+1) and Clay Scanlan (2+2) both had multi-goal games. This was Scanlan鈥檚 Thunder debut.

Dane Dobbie (1+1) and Bobby Kidd III had the other 91原创 goals.

In net, Frank Scigliano was named second star following his 41-save performance.

On the other side, Keegan Bal and Noah Armitage had a goal and an assist while Drew Belgrave, Will Malcom and Justin Salt. Zach Higgins stopped 36 of the 49 91原创 shots.

The team was ready to go from opening whistle last night according to Have a listen to the full interview from the game's third star

鈥� 91原创 Thunder (@ThunderWLA)

This triumph comes right on the heels of a victory Wednesday, June 28, at home, where a balanced offensive attack combined with outstanding goaltending sent the 91原创 Thunder senior players to a seventh straight victory, 9-3, over the visiting Victoria Shamrocks.

In that WHL matchup, the Thunder never trailed in the contest, leading by scores of 4-1 and 6-1 at the intermissions.

鈥淲e started on time. Obviously, it is hard when you come over from the Island or have to travel there, so we knew our start was going to be very important tonight,鈥� said Scigliano, who was the game鈥檚 third star.

鈥淲e were consistent for probably three quarters of that game 鈥� we gave them a couple of bad outside looks late, but other than that, I thought it was a complete effort. We had a good practice on Monday just to clarify our systems and it shows tonight with how we played our game.鈥�

Dane Dobbie led the offence with a short-handed goal and four assists while Robert Church scored twice and set up two others. Connor Robinson (1+2) and Dylan Kinnear (2+1) each had three-point games and Jesse Gillespie (1+1), Kyle Brunsch (1+1) and Nathaniel Kozevnikov had the other 91原创 goals.

鈥淓verywhere I have been, it鈥檚 offence by committee. You can have a bunch of sticks and a bunch of stars, but if the balls get stuck there and everyone else is not involved, then it is easy to defend,鈥� said Thunder coach Curt Malawsky.

鈥淓veryone got involved tonight and contributed in their own way; it was offence by committee.鈥�

鈥淒efensively, we did the little things that we preach in our room (and) the guys did a really good job on them, and I think that was the difference. And when they did get looks, Frankie was again exceptional,鈥� he added.

Brad McCulley led the Shamrocks with a pair of goals and Patrick Dodds had the other with Marshal King finishing with three assists. Cam Dunkerley made 39 saves in the Victoria goal.

91原创鈥檚 special teams came through with a pair of short-handed goals and one power-play marker on three chances while the Shamrocks went 0-for-5 with the man advantage.

Kinnear 鈥� who was making his season debut 鈥� was the game鈥檚 first star while McCulley was No. 2.

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Junior A fall short in overtime

The Delta Islanders returned the favour to the 91原创 Thunder.

The Thunder went to the Ladner Leisure Centre recently and handed the host Islanders a 6-4 loss. Then this past Thursday, June 29, the two teams reconvened at 91原创 Events Centre and this time it was the Islanders taking away the two points thanks to an 11-7 overtime win.

But while the Thunder鈥檚 slim playoff hopes remained alive during that first meeting, they entered the rematch knowing they no longer had a shot at a BC Junior A Lacrosse League post-season berth.

Following Thursday鈥檚 result, 91原创 sat in sixth place at 5-12-1 and 11 points, while Delta was in eighth place at 5-13-0 and 10 points. Both teams have three games remaining.

The rematch featured a high-scoring first period with Delta ahead 6-3 before both teams settled down in the second, tallying a goal each.

The Thunder would score the only three goals of the third period 鈥� two of which came in the final 4:35 to force overtime 鈥� but the Islanders went ahead with 4:48 to play in the 10-minute overtime period before adding a pair of empty-net goals and then one more tally in the dying seconds for the final score.

Temeke7 Gottfriedsen led 91原创 with two goals and an assist while Jack Margetson had a goal and three helpers and was 15-3 on face-offs. Braiden Struss (1+1), Ben Gagnon, Joseph Killcommons and Jack Bamford had the other goals while Jayme Brain and Noah Buchan each had two assists.

Deklan Morrison made 47 saves on 56 shots (.839 save percentage) as the Thunder were outshot 58-51.

Killcommons, Bamford and Buchan were among the eight Tier 1 call-ups suiting up for the Thunder as 91原创 was missing several key regulars.

Scott Williams and Carter Torok led the Islanders with two goals apiece and Trase Recsky stopped 44 of 41 shots (.863 save percentage).

Up next for 91原创 was a visit to Victoria on Saturday, July 1 鈥� for an afternoon game against the Shamrocks. Stay tuned for the results of that matchup.

Ahead of the BCJALL trade deadline on June 30, the Thunder made a series of trades, sending their three top offensive players and a pair of key defenders to playoff-bound teams.

Graduating players Declan Fitzpatrick and Stuart Phillips were sent to the St. Albert Miners (Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League) and Coquitlam Adanacs.

Also going to the Adanacs is Cody Malawsky, but his rights revert to the Thunder following the conclusion of the 2023 Minto Cup Championships.

Defenders Ethan Quinn and Jaiden Terry were sent to the Port Coquitlam Saints and like Malawsky, they will rejoin the Thunder organization following the conclusion of the 2023 season.

91原创 is receiving draft picks, future considerations and financial compensation in exchange for the players.

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Junior tier 1 Thunder fall in season finale

As was the case for much of the season, an inability to play a full 60 minutes cost the 91原创 Thunder one more time.

With the game tied at eight with 13 minutes to play, the Thunder surrendered the final three goals, falling 11-8 to the Maple Ridge Burrards last Tuesday night, June 27, at 91原创 Events Centre.

The game was the final contest of the BC Junior Tier 1 Lacrosse League regular season for 91原创, as the Thunder finished with a record of 4-14.

The teams were tied at both the first and second intermissions, before the Burrards pulled away late.

Jake Newby and Joseph Killcommons scored two goals apiece while Liam Taillefer, Connyr Welch, Declan Fines, and Talon Schroeder had a goal each.

Killcommons and Welch each finished with three points.

Parker M鈥橪ot and Dawson McGuiness each had a goal and four points for the Burrards.

鈥淭he problem is we are in a tie game in the third period, and we don鈥檛 have 鈥榠t鈥� to get through and that is what happened a lot to us,鈥� said 91原创 coach Darren Buchan.

鈥淎 lot of guys got better as the season went on. We had some struggles early; we dug a hole for ourselves where we couldn鈥檛 get out of playoff-wise, but game in and game out, the reality is there are a lot of kids who improved.鈥�

Maple Ridge 鈥� which still has two games to play 鈥� improved to 8-8, and the Burrards have already qualified for the six-team playoffs beginning this week.

Despite the disappointing record, 91原创 did make progress from the start of the season back in late April, especially considering that as an already young team, the Thunder suffered seven season-ending injuries, said Buchan.

In two of their final three games, the Thunder found themselves in a tie game in the third period against a playoff-bound opponent 鈥� as was the case back on June 17. 91原创 was seconds away from overtime before the host Timbermen (12-4 and in a battle for third place) scored with less than three seconds to play in the 10-9 victory.

鈥淚 am proud of this group (and) it is exciting about all the youth we have and all the players coming up next year,鈥� Buchan concluded.

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Is there more to the story? Email: roxanne.hooper@langleyadvancetimes.com
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