NLL Insider

A quick Western Lacrosse Association (WLA) up-date shows three teams tied with four wins a top the standings - the New Westminster Salmonbellies (4-0), Victoria Shamrocks (4-0) and Coquitlam Adanacs (4-1). That should make for some great lacrosse this weekend.

Undefeated teams New Westminster and Victoria play on the island this Friday. Victoria will also battle at Coquitlam on Saturday.

Prior to those big games, the young Langley Thunder (2-2) will also get an opportunity to prove themselves. The Thunder, who currently sit in fourth place out West, host Coquitlam on Wednesday and battle at New West on Thursday.

All aforementioned games are scheduled to start at 7:45pm PST. 

Coquitlam’s Dane Dobbie has continued his strong start and is now second in league scoring after the Adanacs posted a 9-6 victory over Langley and 8-3 win over Maple Ridge on the weekend. Victoria’s Lewis Ratcliff still leads the league with 22 points in four games.

Jason Wulder, a National Lacrosse League (NLL) veteran and Coquitlam Adanac, is third in WLA scoring while Tom Johnson of the Langley Thunder is fourth. Wulder was named this past week’s WLA Player of the Week.

Dobbie and Johnson were Top 10 NLL Entry Draft selections last year and it will be interesting to follow how they progress throughout the year. Johnson was the WLA Rookie of the Year in 2007 while this is Dobbie’s first year in the Senior ‘A’ league.

Jordan Hall, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2007 NLL Entry Draft, is expected to suit up for his first 08 WLA game this Thursday. The Salmonbellies, who posted an 8-3 win over Nanaimo last week, have benefited this year from the strong play of rookies Jordan McBride and goaltender Tyler Richards.

The WLA plays a 63 game regular season schedule with each team playing each other three times - two away and one at home, reversed every year. The regular season started up in the middle of May and will run until the end of July.

Seven teams compete in the league, in the Burnaby Lakers, Coquitlam Adanacs, Langley Thunder, Maple Ridge Burrards, Nanaimo Timbermen, New Westminster Salmonbellies and Victoria Shamrocks.

The Top 4 teams from the regular season will make the playoffs in a best of seven series format, with 1 vs 4 and 2 vs 3. The WLA finals, like the Mann Cup national championship, are also a best of seven.

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