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Late goal gives Thunder sweep

Burrards swept in season series with Langley and sit in third place as season winds down

Burrard Joel Delgarno was standing at the side of the net, pointing to the ball behind the goaltender and apparently swearing it had been in the net. The referee looked at the goal judge, waved it off emphatically, and the game was over.

No goal. No time left on the clock. And, no success against the Langley Thunder all season.

The local Western Lacrosse Association team led Langley 10-8 after two periods, and a appeared on its  way to its first win over the Thunder when a Delgarno power play goal made it 11-8 early in the third.

But with 3:01 left to play, the Thunder tied the game at 12-12, then took a 13-12 lead.

In the time remaining, Curtis Dickson, the Burrards’ hero all season, got off a low shot that demanded a tough save from Thunder netminder Nick Rose, then set up Delgarno, alone at the side of the net, for the last-second shot that he almost got to go.

The Burrards are tied for third place with the Burnaby Lakers, both at 7-6, and behind Langley (8-3-2) and the Victoria Shamrocks (9-4).

But despite sweeping the resurgent Burrards in the three-game season series, Thunder coach Rod Jensen tipped his cap to the Ridge team for a great game.

“They play with a lot of energy, and they’re aggressive,” he said.

“The league’s got a lot of parity – it’s a real good league this year,” he said. “We and Victoria are touted as the teams to beat, based on our experience and talent. We beat them [the Burrards] three times, but I’d hate to face them in the playoffs.”

He said Burrards netminder Chris Levis held his team in the game when Langley was pouring on the heat.

“We’ve got some real gunners, and he made some phenomenal saves.”

Jensen also credited his team with doing a solid job defensively on Dickson, who is capable of winning a game by himself, over the three-game season set.

Sunday, Dickson had four goals and three assists. Riley Loewen had three goals and five points, Delgarno had a pair of goals and four points, and team captain Jarrett Davis had a goal and four points.

The Burrards beat the Nanaimo Timbermen on Saturday on Vancouver Island by an 11-10 score. Ben McIntosh, the big rookie drafted in the first round, had four goals on the night and added an assist. Dickson had three goals and three assists, and Jarrett Davis a goal and five assists.

• The Burrards are in Coquitlam to take on the Adanacs on Saturday. Sunday they host the Nanaimo Timbermen, at Planet Ice, starting at 6:45 p.m.