Senior B Mohawks facing Akwesasne in playoffs

Following a 12-game regular season, their first as a fully fledged member of the Three Nations Senior Lacrosse League (TNSLL), the Kahnawake Senior B Mohawks find themselves down 1-0 in their opening best-of-three series with the Akwesasne Bucks.

The Mohawks lost their opening playoff match against the Bucks 10-8 Wednesday night at the Sports Complex.

“The Bucks are a solid team. At the end of the day, both teams have their guys, and all that’ll matter is who wants it more,” said Mohawks’ forward Koleton Marquis, who scored a power play goal and added an assist in the loss.

The Bucks got out to an early lead thanks to a goal by Tahnaokata Elijah at 15:07 of the first period, followed by Kaleb Benedict a mere three seconds later.

Kyren Lazore put the Mohawks on the board at 12:24, and the two teams traded goals for the rest of the period as Akwesasne ended the first period with a 4-3 lead.

The second period was very low scoring, with just three goals total - two for the Bucks and one for the Mohawks, down 6-4 after two.

Marquis’s power play marker at 17:34 of the third was the first of three straight goals for Kahnawake, who had the lead for the first time in the game midway through the third.

Bucks forward Tonatiuh Salinas tied the game at 10:35, Jeremy Thompson restored Kahnawake’s lead two minutes later, and with less than five minutes left, it seemed like Kahnawake would be the ones to claim victory in the playoff opener.

That would not come to pass, as Ty Thompson tied the game at eight apiece, and Skye Sunday scored the game winner for the Bucks with a little more than a minute left in the game.

Despite the close loss, Marquis feels as though the team has a good chance of winning the next two games, the first of which is Saturday at 8 p.m. at the Sports Complex.

“I feel like we have the group to get it done this year, we just need a little more out of everyone this time of year,” said Marquis.

He is including himself in that.

“I got brought in to put the ball in the back of the net, so at the end of the day, that’s my goal, to score goals,” said Marquis.

For him, playing in Kahnawake has been a welcome change from playing in Ontario and the United States for the last three years, notably for the Peterborough Lakers in Junior A Lacrosse and for the State University of New York at Albany Great Danes.

“Lots of time back home was needed,” said Marquis.

Getting a chance to play with players on the Senior B team who have experience in the National Lacrosse League - including brothers Miles, Jeremy, and Jerome Thompson - has been a great boon for him.

“I’ve been surrounded by pros for the past two years now, playing at Worlds and in Peterborough, and there’s something just different about them, how they prepare and show up to games,” said Marquis.

“They bring a consistent positive presence to our locker room, which at the end of the day makes us play better and to be more confident.”

The Mohawks went 7-5 during the regular season and won the regular season series against the Bucks two games to one.

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