The visiting Langley Thunder outscored the Coquitlam Jr. Adanacs 4-1 in overtime to defeat the hosts 9-6 Wednesday at the Poirier Sport and Leisure Complex. It is the first time the BC Junior A Lacrosse League team has lost a regular season game since 2015.
Coquitlam seemed poised to carry on with their undefeated season when they took a 3-0 lead into the first intermission. Josh Kemp set up all three goals, by Dennon Armstrong, Tommy Scanlan and Thomas Semple. The Thunder got one of those back less than three minutes into the second period when Mackenzie Rope scored unassisted.
Scanlan restored the Adanacs’ three-goal advantage by converting a passing play that started with keeper Christian Del Bianco.
From then on it was all Thunder on the scoreboard, as they beat Del Bianco four straight times in the third period on only nine shots.
Meanwhile, the Adanacs peppered Thunder keeper Jake Sundar with 22 shots in the final frame. But only Armstrong managed to beat him; his second goal of the game with just under nine minutes to play set up the overtime.
Again, the Adanacs rained shots at the Thunder net but only got one in, by Intermediate A call-up Jalen Chaster, with only 35 seconds in and the game already out of reach.
That’s because Langley was able to score on four of the five shots they had on Del Bianco in the 10-minute extra period.
The win puts the Thunder on an even footing with the league-leading New Westminster Salmonbellies, who are also 3-0. The Victoria Shamrocks also have three wins. Coquitlam’s two wins and one loss put them in fourth place heading into Friday’s game against the winless Port Coquitlam Saints.
