The first trip by a Nanaimo team to the Western Lacrosse Association final since 1968 could be short lived. The Timbermen must rally to win four consecutive games against the Langley Thunder, beginning tonight in Game 4 at Frank Crane Arena in the Harbour City, in order to reach the Mann Cup national Senior A final for the first time in more than five decades.
The Timbermen have played tough in every game but fell behind 3-0 in the best-of-seven 2022 WLA final following a 12-11 loss in overtime late Tuesday night at the Langley Events Centre despite leading 8-7 after two periods.
Langley, which got past the Victoria Shamrocks in six games in the semifinals, is showing its veteran caginess. The Thunder are led by National Lacrosse League pro Curtis Dickson, who in university led the Delaware Blue Hens to their only NCAA Final Four appearance, and is one of the most lethal offensive threats in lacrosse history. He had three goals and six points Tuesday.
“[Nanaimo] is not an easy place to play, as you saw last game [10-8 Langley win in Game 2], we squeaked one out there,” Thunder sniper Dickson said in a statement.
“It is a tough travel day. We don’t want them to extend this thing. We want to try and end this in four in Nanaimo. We know we are just going to have to as cliché as it sounds, take it a shift at a time, a period at a time and grind it out. We know it is not going to be easy, but we are looking to come out of there with the win.”
Dane Dobbie plays pro for the San Diego Seals and was the 2018-19 NLL MVP and had a hat-trick and nine points for Langley in the Game 3 overtime victory. Robert Church, out of NCAA Div. 1 Drexel University, is an NLL all-pro selection and the defending WLA MVP from 2019, when he was with the Burnaby Lakers and was also WLA MVP in 2014 and 2017. Church was injured but returned to the Thunder line-up Tuesday and scored, making Nanaimo’s job all that much harder.
Standout Langley goaltender Frank Scigliano has been the storyline of the series but it was Nanaimo’s Charles Claxton who shone in the Game 3 nets with 51 saves to be named third star. Taggart Clark led the Timbermen with a hat-trick while Jon Phillips, signed recently by the Las Vegas Desert Dogs of the NLL, had two goals.
If needed, the fifth game would be Saturday at the LEC, the sixth game Monday in Nanaimo and the seventh game Wednesday at the LEC.
