Third-period rally helps Thunder snap winless drought

Bailey Vanichuk scored a pair of huge third-period goals as the Langley Junior A Thunder rallied for a 9-7 win over the visiting Delta Islanders in BC Junior A Lacrosse League action at Langley Events Centre on June 5. Ryan Molag photo

At long last, victory.

With the score tied and just over a minute to play in regulation, Bailey Vanichuk buried the winner, sending the Langley Junior A Thunder to their first win since June of the 2023 season – a span of 27 games – with a hard-fought 9-7 win over the visiting Delta Islanders on Thursday night at Langley Events Centre.

The Islanders had one final crack at forcing overtime, calling a timeout to draw up a play with 25 seconds remaining, but Ben Gagnon forced a turnover on the defensive end, pushing the ball up the floor to Koji Okuyama, who scored into the empty net as time expired.

“I thought we had done a pretty good job the first 59 minutes, so now is not the time to fail,” said Langley goaltender Caleb Khan of what was going through his mind on the final possession.  “We just had belief that this game was ours. We believed we could win this game.”

“It feels like a monkey off our backs. I know I am not the only one who has been dying for these the last two years. It is a great feeling. Words can’t describe it.”

Vanichuk’s go-ahead goal with 1:03 to play was the Thunder’s first lead of the night as the Islanders led 3-0 at one point before taking leads of 3-2 and 7-5 at the intermissions. Langley would outscore Delta 4-0 over the final 20 minutes.

Vanichuk tallied both the tying and winning goals.

“I saw there was a minute left on the clock, and I wanted to get the win for the boys. It’s been a long time,” he said of what flashed through his mind on his go-ahead marker.

“Great to get the win, get the fire going. Now we just have to keep the motor going and keep this momentum.”

Langley was coming off a pair of one-goal losses and they are 1-4 in the BC Junior A Lacrosse League standings while Delta sees their record at 3-3.

“We have challenged them to find what it takes to win. We’ve put the systems in place. They are buying in; they are executing, and I think they deserve every bit of this They are such a hard-working group of guys. To see them get that win and the smiles on their faces, so worth it,” said Thunder coach Matt Beers.

“We are not going to be blowing teams out; we have a pretty young team; but we are going to stay in the fight and ground teams down. It’s a big character win for the guys.”

In addition to Bailey Vanichuk’s pair of goals, the rest of the Thunder offence came courtesy of two goals from Max Larsen and a goal and three helpers from each of Max Goller, Austin Vanichuk and Cody Todd. Mac Timms and Okuyama had a goal apiece. Parker Doyle – the top overall pick in the 2025 BCJALL Draft – made his Junior debut, finishing with three assists.

Khan made 38 saves on 45 shots, for an .844 save percentage.

On the other side, Simon Poole led the Islanders with a pair of goals and three points while Carter Torok had one goal and an assist. Vaughn Pinchin, Elijah Gill, Cole Samson and Rylan Weisbrod finished with one goal apiece and Jett Burns made 41 saves on 49 shots.

Next up for the Thunder is a road game in Burnaby on June 11 before they host the Port Coquitlam Saints on June 12 at Langley Events Centre with a 7:00pm start time. Click here for tickets.

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