Mohawks take on Muskies in finals
Courtesy Kahnawake Senior B Mohawks
In their first season as full-time participants in the Three Nations Senior Lacrosse League (TNSLL), the Kahnawake Senior B Mohawks have made it to the finals, against the Snake Island Muskies.
They find themselves down 1-0 in the best-of-seven series against the Muskies, losing their opening game 12-9 on Wednesday night. Game two was on Thursday, August 7, after The Eastern Door’s publishing deadline.
The Mohawks got off on the wrong foot against the Muskies, allowing four goals the first period, including three straight in the first 10 minutes of the game.
Stone Jacobs got the Mohawks on the board with his third of the postseason at 8:12 of the first.
The Muskies got back on the board at 3:34 on the power play, before Jerome Thompson scored his fourth of the playoffs with 22 seconds left, looking to put the Mohawks back on track.
The ball stayed out of both nets in the first seven minutes of the period, before Snake Island scored to restore the three-goal lead. Ethan Drake scored his first of the playoffs on the power play a minute later, looking to give back some offensive momentum to the Mohawks.
That would not come to pass. Instead, it was the Muskies who gained momentum, first with a shorthanded goal at 11:23, then scoring on the power play six times, making the score 12-3 after two.
Kahnawake did show some fight in the third, scoring six times and keeping the ball out of their net, but it was too little, too late, losing 12-9.
Before getting to face the Muskies, the Mohawks first had to deal with their semi-finals matchup against the Akwesasne Bucks.
Losing game one on July 30 meant that Kahnawake had nomargin for error in the three-game series against the Bucks.
In game two on Saturday in Akwesasne, the Bucks jumped to an early lead, scoring three times in the first period.
Thompson scored at 6:07 of the first, but the Bucks added two more in the first three minutes of the second, finding themselves in a great position to put the Mohawks away.
Instead, Kahnawake rebounded, scoring in bunches, starting with Teioshontathe McComber’s first of the postseason at 11:07.
In the span of seven minutes, it was Kahnawake who was in the lead, up 6-5.
The Bucks tied the game at six at 1:56 of the second, but Kahnawake kept pouring on the offense in the third, scoring six straight.
That third period goal scoring came from a variety of sources, not just one player having a big day. Teioshontathe McComber had his second of the day, Teharonhiorens McComber had two of his own, and Jacobs, Miles Thompson, and Oran Horn had one each.
The Bucks would add one more late, making the final score 12-7.
The deciding third game of the series, played on August 3, was a bit of a repeat of game two.
The Bucks had a 2-1 lead less than five minutes into the first period, but it was all Kahnawake after that, as the Mohawks scored five straight in the first, a hat-trick from Koleton Marquis and two from Jerome Thompson, going up 6-2 after one.
Colby Dobbins scored the eventual game winner shorthanded less than two minutes into the second. Marquis added a fourth goal to his big day, Miles Thompson had two of his own, Mark Kirby had his first of the postseason, and Dustin Hill scored his first goal of the season - all the more meaningful since Hill was the goalie.
That was more than enough for the Mohawks to win 12-6 to advance to the finals.
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Game three of the finals will be this Sunday at 8 p.m. at the Sports Complex, and game four will be there the next day, also at 8 p.m.
If needed, game five will be Wednesday at A’nowara’ko:wa Arena in Akwesasne at 8 p.m., with game six the next night at the Sports Complex at 8 p.m. Game seven, if needed, will be in Akwesasne on August 17 at 4 p.m.
