Langley Thunder fans will have to wait a while longer before they see newly-acquired star goalie Frank Scigliano in action, the result of a Western Lacrosse Association (WLA) decision to delay the May 21st start of the 2020 season due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The postponement was announced Tuesday, March 31st by the WLA board of governors.
A new schedule was being drafted, the announcement said, with more details in coming weeks.
In February, the Langley team announced they had drafted Scigliano, the league’s reigning top goalie in a series of trades in advance of the 2020 season.
To get him, the Thunder traded a pair of first-round picks as well as two second-round picks, plus the playing rights to James Rahe, Dan Lewis and Aidan Milburn.
Scigliano was named WLA Goalie of the Year, while playing with the Maple Ridge Burrards.
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The five-year vet (who also represented England this past September at the 2019 World Lacrosse Indoor World Championship at Langley Events Centre) posted career-best stats this past summer with a 5.16 goals against average and an .883 save percentage in 13 games.
The team’s first overall pick at the WLA Graduating Junior Draft at Langley Events Centre was Surrey standout Tre Leclaire.
The six-foot-two, 210-pound right-handed forward (currently starring in the field game for Ohio State) has accumulated 115 goals and 227 points in 50 BC Junior A Lacrosse League regular season games with Delta and New Westminster.
In announcing the postponement, the WLA said the health and safety of all participants in the BC Lacrosse community “is of the utmost importance.”
“Revised schedules have been drafted and we are working closely with our counterparts with Major Series Lacrosse (MSL) in Ontario as we work towards competing for the Mann Cup in September in Ontario.”
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Preparations are continuing for the WLA’s 52nd season, it added, promising to bring box lacrosse “back to our communities as soon as it is safe and reasonable to do so.”
“All members of the WLA would like to extend our appreciation and gratitude to front-line workers in essential services: first responders, health care practitioners, hospital support staff, grocery stores, food services, supply chain logistics, delivery drivers, social services, and all others who are working hard to keep our communities healthy and running as smoothly as possible. “
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The Western Lacrosse Association (WLA) is an amateur league of seven men’s Senior A box lacrosse sanctioned by the Canadian Lacrosse Association.
Each year, the playoff teams battle for the right to compete against the Major Series Lacrosse champion (Ontario) for the Mann Cup every September. The championship is hosted alternately between Ontario (MSL) and British Columbia (WLA) every year.