Thunder rally, win third straight

Langley Junior A Thunder captain Cody Malawsky finished with two goals -- including the game-winner -- and three assists as his team rallied for a 10-9 come-from-behind win over the visiting Port Coquitlam Saints on June 12 in BC Junior A Lacrosse League action at Langley Events Centre. Ryan Molag photo

Things looked bleak for the Langley Junior A Thunder on Thursday night.

Granted there was just over half a game remaining, but the Thunder trailed the visiting Port Coquitlam Saints 7-2 in BC Junior A Lacrosse League action at Langley Events Centre.

What followed was a 6-0 Langley run in a span of just over 10 minutes to close the period ahead 8-7. And the Thunder never trailed again as each team scored twice in the final frame for a huge 10-9 victory, the team’s third consecutive win.

The Thunder registered 26 of their 53 shots on goal in that 20-minute span alone as they completely flipped the game’s script.

“Just stay in the fight, and keep competing shift by shift,” said Langley coach Curt Malawsky on the message to the team. “And play where your feet are; you won’t get them all back at once so just worry about the (current) shift.”

“It is easy for us as coaches to come in there and tell them that’s what it is going to take. They need to put scars on their bodies and go through those battles and those wars,” he added.

“The war of attrition, those tight one-goal games are big in any sport so for us to bring it home is huge. And for them to see that hard work prevails and staying in the fight and competing for a full 60 minutes makes a difference. They got rewarded and they deserved it.”

The victory was a third straight for Langley as the team improved to 3-4 on the season. The Saints record slips to 3-6 with the loss.

“I don’t think we necessarily changed anything; I think it was just trusting each other. We were missing shots we don’t normally miss,” said Thunder captain Cody Malawsky, who returned to the line-up in the team’s previous game, a 15-8 win in Burnaby on June 11.

“Keep being confident and keep pushing each other and finally they started going in.”

Malawsky watched from afar while he was away at school as the team struggled to an 0-4 start.

“To see them get better every game, was really nice. It has been tough these past couple of years so props to these guys for sticking to it, grinding it out and finally getting some wins,” he said.

Cody Malawsky scored twice in the win – including what turned out to be the game-winner – as well as three assists. But while offences tend to get the glory, he was crediting the team’s defence and goaltending for their stellar turnaround as Port Coquitlam managed just two goals over the final 37 minutes.

“A good defence plays their best when they need to; 7-7 and they basically shut the door. Props to them, they were great,” he said.

Bailey Vanichuk (2-3) and Mac Timms (2-2) also scored twice in the win while Cody Todd, Max Larsen and Max Goller each registering a goal and a helper. Xavian Washington had the other Thunder marker. Both goaltenders saw action in the game as Caleb Khan started and finished the contest, making 24 saves on 29 shots while Marcus Khan had 12 save on 16 shots.

For the Saints, Josh Mills (3-1) and Kris Fournier (1-3) each had four-point games with Daniel Mahoney finishing with five assists. Ashton Brown made 43 saves as his team was outshot 53-45.

The Thunder will look for a fourth-straight victory as they host the Victoria Junior Shamrocks on Sunday (June 15) at Langley Events Centre. Game time is 4:00pm. Click here for tickets.

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