The Nicola Valley Thunder bantam lacrosse team continued its stellar season on the weekend by winning the gold medal at a seven-team tournament in Langley.
The Thunder went undefeated (4-0-1) in their five games against Coast competition, outscoring the opposition 27-17 in total.
Friday, the Nicola Valley bantams defeated Langley 5-3 and Vancouver 6-5. On Saturday, it was a 3-3 tie versus Burnaby and a resounding 8-2 victory against Ridge Meadows.
In the championship game on Sunday, the Thunder battled back from a two-goal deficit to edge the Coquitlam Adanacs 5-4. The winning goal was scored by Anthony Tulliani with just 2.6 seconds left in regulation time.
Leading scorer for the Thunder at the tournament was Mack Stead with 10 goals. Tulliani had 5 goals in total, followed by Fred Ware with four.
Both Tom Girard and Spencer Vaughan picked up two goals on the weekend, while Travis Simon, Micaela Smith, Gorden Ware and Tanveer Bansi each had one.
Kaelen Lester played in net for all five Thunder games.
The local bantams have an even bigger weekend coming up as they host the zone playdowns this Saturday and Sunday at the Shulus arena. On the line is one berth to the provincial championships, scheduled for July 9 to 13 in Victoria/Esquimalt.
The top-ranked Thunder will be up against three other Interior teams hoping to win the one qualifying spot to Provincials. They are the Penticton Heat, the Kamloops Rattlers and the Shuswap Outlaws from Salmon Arm.
The four teams will play a round robin on the weekend to determine first place and who goes to the B.C. championships.
Interspersed amongst the bantam playoff games are three other games involving Nicola Valley Thunder teams.
Below is the complete weekend schedule:
Saturday
10:30 Bantam Nicola Valley vs Shuswap
12:00 Midget Nicola Valley vs N. Okanagan
1:30 Bantam Penticton vs Kamloops
3:00 Midget Nicola Valley vs Kelowna
Sunday
9:30 Bantam Nicola Valley vs Kamloops
11:00 Bantam Shuswap vs Penticton
12:30 Peewee Nicola Valley vs Penticton
2:00 Bantam Shuswap vs Kamloops
3:30 Bantam Nicola Valley vs Penticton
