Busy weekend for both Hunters teams

The Kahnawake Junior C Hunters went 1-2 over the weekend, with a 9-3 win against the Gloucester Griffins on Saturday breaking up losses to the Cornwall Celtics (12-6) and Nepean Knights (8-7 in overtime).

Eric Jacobs, the Junior C Hunters’ head coach, said that the team’s recent slide after a 3-1 start to their season can be attributed to penalty issues.

“We are giving up between four to six power play goals a game against. All our games, except for one game, have been really close, either close wins or close losses,” he said.

“We just took a bit of a dip there in our game, but we’re still in the thick of it. If we can just get our morale back up and get back to good hard lacrosse, we’ll be in good shape.”

The Hunters’ 394 total penalty minutes lead the entire Ontario Junior C Lacrosse League (OJCLL) by a wide margin. Not helping matters is their penalty kill percentage, just 50 percent, is also a league worst.

Jacobs said that by cleaning up their undisciplined play, the team could be winning most of their games by comfortable margins.

“There’s nothing wrong with taking penalties as long as you’re playing hard and clean. The refs are going to still make calls. The selfish and undisciplined ones are the ones that we need to get rid of,” he said.

He added that some changes to the roster could be necessary if those issues don’t go away, and that players will need to prove that they want to play for the team by going back to fundamentals and staying within the lines of clean play.

On the scoresheet, the Hunters have seven players with 10 or more points to start the season: Dash Diabo (15 goals, seven assists, 22 points), Tehorahkwaneken Albany (9-5-14), Arahkwenhawe Two-Axe (4-8-12), Wyatt Cross (4-6-10), Sebastian Laughing (4-6-10), Raniatarine Martin (5-5-10), and Joren Norton (3-7-10).

For Jacobs, having a balanced attack with multiple players able to contribute offensively is what he is striving for.

“I’d rather have four or five or six of us scoring two or three goals apiece instead of one player scoring six; that makes our odds of winning better,” he said, as opposing teams can’t shut down the offense by focusing on one player or line.

The Junior C Hunters have two games this weekend: an away game Saturday against the Griffins and a home game Sunday at 2 p.m. against the Eastern-leading North Shore Kodiaks.

Junior B Hunters split weekend

Exactly midway through their Ontario Junior B Lacrosse League (OJBLL) regular season, the Kahnawake Junior B Hunters find themselves in second place in the East with a 6-4 record, only bested by the still undefeated Akwesasne Thunder, who sit at an incredible 11-0.

The Hunters have arguably been the Thunder’s closest rivals on the floor this year, with both of their meetings being tough, relatively low-scoring, close games.

That was certainly the case on May 17, when the Thunder defeated the Hunters 6-5 in regulation.

Rakawineh Elijah scored twice for the Hunters, with Reese Nugent, Owen Rice, and Tiohahes Morris adding goals. Kasey Lahache stopped 37 of the 43 shots he faced for the Hunters.

His counterpart, Xavier Delormier, continued his very strong run of play for Akwesasne with a 53-save effort.

The previous day, the Hunters got the better of the Gloucester Griffins in a convincing 18-6 win.

Shakononhkwahtsheronniennis Rice (five) and Owen (four) lead the way in the goal scoring department for the Hunters against the Griffins. Nugent and Elijah had two each, and Mason Sanden, Logan Gabriel, and Tehahente Albany each added one of their own.

The Hunters will have played their 11th game on Thursday evening, after The Eastern Door’s publishing deadline, against the Nepean Knights at home.

They will then go on a three-game road trip, with the first two being played this coming weekend: on Saturday night against the Halton Hills Bulldogs and on Sunday afternoon against the Clarington Green Gaels.

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