The Coquitlam Adanacs ended a two-game skid by defeating the Langley Thunder 10-8 on Saturday at the Poirier Sport and Recreation Complex. It was the team’s first win of the young Western Lacrosse Association season, after earlier losses to Burnaby and Nanaimo.
The Adanacs’ Matt Delmonico opened the scoring less than four minutes into the game with his first of three goals. But Tyler Pace and JP Kealey put the Thunder up 2-1 at the first intermission.
Delmonico figured in the scoring again when he set up Leighton Gibson who tied it with a short handed goal 1:47 after the break.
After Andrew Garant got the Thunder back on even terms just under three minutes later, the Adanacs broke the game wide open with four goals in less than five minutes. The teams then exchanged a pair of goals to give Coquitlam an 8-5 lead heading into the third period..
Kealey’s third goal of the game early in the final frame closed the gap to 8-6, but a pair of goals by Vinny Ricci gave the home team more than enough breathing room, even after the Thunder added two more in the game’s final three minutes.
The Adanacs’ lineup featured seven new players who weren’t with the team last year, including veteran defender Taylor Stuart, who was recently acquired from the Nanaimo Timberman and just returned from the Colorado Mammoth of the National Lacrosse League.
Delmonico was named the game’s first star with his six-point performance, while rookie goaltender Andrew Gallant’s 43 saves on 51 shots earned him the game’s second star.
The Adanacs host the New Westminster Salmonbellies on Saturday at 7 p.m.
