Township of Langley, BC, Thursday, September, 8, 2011:  The Langley Thunder knew they would see a different Brampton Excelsiors' team with Dan Dawson and Anthony Cosmo back in the line-up and that is exactly what happened Thursday night at the Langley Events Centre.  The Excelsiors spent most of the night trying to irritate the Thunder players while Dawson orchestrated the offence.  Langley, who has been praised for the their discipline, never came unglued but they were frustrated as Cosmo made save after save (39 in total) to help Brampton to a 9-4 victory, evening the Mann Cup series at one a piece.

After both teams traded goals in the first, Brampton came out strong in the second with two goals in the first six minutes.  Jamie Lincoln brought Langley back within one but Brampton had an answer, scoring four goals from three different players (Joe Walters 2, Jarrett Davis and John McClure) to take a commanding lead and never looked back.  The Thunder showed great resolve and managed to solve Cosmo twice in the third period with goals from Patrick Saunders and Kerry Susheski but goals from Brampton Game 1 star, Zack Greer, and Davis' second of the night sealed the deal and tied the series.

Most expected this series to be close and it is shaping up to be a classic for these two upstart teams who both finished third during their regular seasons.  The weekend will be jam packed as the Thunder look to bounce back at the Langley Events Centre with Game 3, 4 and 5 happening Saturday, Sunday and Monday night - game time for all games is 7:45PM.  As usual, the LEC Ticket Office will open at 2pm each game day (it will be open from 10am - 5pm on Friday) for tickets to be purchased in person.  Alternatively tickets will be available online until 4pm each game day (all day and night Friday) at www.ticketmaster.ca goto Mann Cup link on left