NLL Insider

With the Canadian Senior ‘A’ National Lacrosse Championships in B.C. this year, Western Lacrosse Association (WLA) teams are stocking up with the hopes of hosting and hoisting the coveted Mann Cup trophy in September.

Victoria (9-1), New Westminster (7-3-1) and Coquitlam (7-3) have all started strong, as expected, plus they’ve added talent at the trade deadline. Will Langley (5-5-1) join them in the ‘09 playoffs?

Rewind

Langley handed Victoria their only loss of the year two weekends ago with a 13-12 victory on the island. The Thunder then convincingly beat Maple Ridge (4-8) in a key game last weekend that saw the young Thunder squad extend their lead on fourth-place – from one to three points.

On a four game losing streak, with only one win in their last six games, Maple Ridge is going in the wrong direction. The Burrards next face top teams Coquitlam and Victoria, while Langley will enjoy a bye week.

“Langley has a good, young squad and they brought it to us,” added Victoria captain Buck Stobart in an interview with The Times Colonist following the Thunder’s win in Vic. “I’m expecting that the Thunder will make the playoffs and we could be seeing them in the post-season.”

Victoria responded to their sole loss of the season with a win over Nanaimo in the meeting of the Ratcliffs, and then took down Coquitlam on Saturday night, 18-11, to put their stamp on first-place.

New West pulled off a two-goal victory over the struggling Lakers (1-8-1) on Friday to remain at the top of the WLA standings with Victoria Coquitlam.

Nanaimo (2-7-1), with its big 15-13 win over Maple Ridge last weekend, also kept themselves in the playoff picture.

Remaining Games

Similar to the current B.C. Junior ‘A’ Lacrosse League (BCJALL) situation, where it is taking the final week to decide the playoff match-ups, the WLA may go down to the wire in ‘09.

Langley – 11points. 7 Remaining Games: Victoria, New Westminster, Coquitlam 2x, Nanaimo, Burnaby 2x.

Maple Ridge – 8points. 6 Remaining Games: Victoria, New Westminster, Coquitlam, Nanaimo 2x and Burnaby

Nanaimo – 5points. 8 Remaining Games: Victoria, New Westminster 2x, Coquitlam, Langley, Maple Ridge 2x, Burnaby

This Week

Fans will have an opportunity to see another potential first-round playoff match-up when Coquitlam visits New West on Thursday night.

Maple Ridge will also try and steal a win or two to keep pace with Langley. It’s not must-win for the Burrards yet, but it’s close.

Your complete WLA schedule for the week is as follows:

Coquitlam at New Westminster – Thu, Jul 2, 7:45 pm
Victoria at Burnaby – Fri, Jul 3, 7:45 pm
Burnaby at Nanaimo - Sat, Jul 4, 7:00 pm
Maple Ridge at Coquitlam - Sat, Jul 4, 7:45 pm
Victoria at Maple Ridge – Sun, Jul 5, 7:45 pm

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