Rookie Shayne Jackson notched a hat trick in Langley's 10-6 win over Burnaby on a stormy Tuesday night.

With incessant blinks of light followed by nature's drum-roll outside the confines of the Langley Events Centre Tuesday night, Langley Thunder players were busy making their own rumblings inside the building.

The most vigorous lightning storm in recent memory made for a perfect setting for a Thunder post-season game.

And, on cue, the defending WLA playoff champion Thunder lit up the Burnaby Lakers' defence en route to a 10-6 win.

With the victory, the Thunder takes a 3-0 lead in the team's best-of-seven Western Lacrosse Association semifinal.

Langley's senior A squad has a chance to sweep the Lakers and close out the series tonight (Aug. 9) at Burnaby's Bill Copeland Arena.

"Burnaby is a good, young team and they run the ball really well," Thunder assistant coach Darcy Rhodes said. "We know they will bring everything they've got [in game four] and we accept that challenge."

On Tuesday, the Thunder's unstoppable force wasn't Lewis Ratcliff, who had piled up eight goals and 12 points the two previous games.

This time, Shayne Jackson did the damage.

The Thunder rookie scored a second-period hat trick and added an assist. He was named the game's first star.

A native of Bowmanville, Ont., Jackson played a major role for the 2012 Minto Cup champions from Whitby, Ont.

In just 77 games with the Warriors, he compiled 303 points (142 goals and 161 assists).

This season with the Thunder, Jackson recorded 18 goals and 38 points in 14 games.

After three post-season games, Jackson is tied with Athan Iannucci for second in Thunder scoring, each with five goals and nine points.

Ratcliff, who scored once and added four assists in the game three win, leads the WLA in post-season points with 17, on nine goals and eight assists.

"The thing with Shayne is, he always works," Rhodes said. "He's a hard worker and expects to perform at a top level. He just keeps going; he doesn't stop. He sets hard picks and works for loose balls, and the other guys on offence feed off that. He's a rookie but he's pretty mature for his age."

The Thunder defence dominated the first period of Tuesday's game, holding the Lakers to a single goal.

Langley led 3-1 after the opening 20 minutes of play. The game opened up in a middle frame that saw the Thunder out-score the Lakers 5-3. The teams traded two goals apiece in the third period.

Iannucci scored a pair of goals and added two assists for the Thunder. Tor Reinholdt tallied twice while Kerry Susheski and Brett Hickey notched a goal and two assists each.

Alex Turner had a pair of assists, one of his helpers being a highlight-reel-worthy, behind-the-back effort in the second frame that set up Jackson for a goal.

FINAL BUZZER: The Thunder won without the services of one of their offensive stars, Garrett Billings, who sat out Tuesday's contest with a minor injury.

Billings had a goal and seven assists in the first two games of the series.

sports@langleyadvance.com