Cowichan Valley minor lacrosse products will be front and centre next Tuesday evening when the junior A Nanaimo Timbermen and Victoria Shamrocks square off at the Island Savings Centre.
The scoring leaders for both junior A teams are graduates of the Thunder program: Thomas Vaesen and Colton Lidstone for the host T-Men, and Braylon Lumb for the Shamrocks.
Vaesen and Lidstone each have 43 points through 12 games for Nanaimo. Vaesen has scored 24 goals and set up 19, and Lidstone has 11 goals and 32 assists. Lumb, meanwhile, leads both the Shamrocks and the entire B.C. Junior A Lacrosse League with 38 goals and 70 points.
Other local products suiting up for Nanaimo are James Taylor, who has played 12 games and registered his first two assists this past Tuesday as the T-Men lost to the Shamrocks 19-9, and goalie Colin Jeffrey. Victoria also has Brian Robb, who has 10 points (seven goals and three assists) in 10 appearances.
Both Nanaimo and Victoria junior B Tier 1 teams also have a couple of Cowichan products who could get called up if their respective junior A teams find themselves shorthanded next week. Nate Clark and Trey Cleemoff are playing for the junior B Tier 1 Timbermen and Brody Black and Denton MacDonald are playing for the junior B Tier 1 Shamrocks.
Going into their games this weekend, the T-Men sit sixth in the eight-team BCJALL with a record of two wins and 10 losses, while the Shamrocks are third at 8-4-1.
The game is serving as a fundraiser for the CVLA girls programs, and the Cowichan tyke teams are scheduled to play between the first and second periods.
The T-Men and Shamrocks will square off at the Island Savings Centre at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 19.