Hundreds of lacrosse fans flocked to Queen’s Park Arena on a hot summer night for Game 1 of the Western Lacrosse Association finals.
The New Westminster Salmonbellies opened the scoring with a goal in the first minute of the game, but the Langley Thunder answered with six consecutive goals. While New West fought to close the gap, Langley held the lead for the remainder of the game.
When the final bell sounded, the Thunder emerged on top, defeating the Salmonbellies 11-9. New West had 53 shots on Langley goalie Frank Scigliano, while Langley took 45 shots on Bellies’ goalie Zach Higgins.
Robert Church, who led the Thunder with four goals and four assists, was the game’s first star. Kevin Crowley, who had a three-point night for the Bellies, was the second star and Curtis Dickson of the Thunder was the third star.
Bellies defender Drew Belgrave was the Stonehaus Player of the Game. He scored with 6:23 left in the third period to bring the Bellies within one goal of tying the game, but Langley soon scored to seal the win.
Game 2 of the best-of-seven series goes on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. at the Langley Events Centre, before the WLA 2023-season rivals return to Queen’s Park Arena on Saturday for Game 3 and then head back to Langley for Game 4 on Tuesday, Aug. 22. Other games, as needed, are scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 24 in New West, Saturday, Aug. 26 in Langley and Tuesday, Aug. 29 at Queen’s Park Arena.
Tickets in games at Queen’s Park Arena are available at the box office now (during regular business hours) and online at Salmonbellies.com/playoff-tickets. As always, you can purchase tickets at the door.
All games begin at 7:30 p.m.
The winner of the WLA finals will host the Major Series Lacrosse champion and compete for the Mann Cup in September.
The Salmonbellies and the Thunder played three times in the regular season, with the Langley winning the first two games (9-7 and 13-5) and New West winning the final regular season game 15-13.
