Series tied for Junior B Hunters
Courtesy Kahnawake Junior B Hunters
After splitting the first two games of the second round of the Ontario Junior B Lacrosse League (OJBLL) playoffs, the Kahnawake Hunters and Halton Hills Bulldogs will now determine which of the two will be East finalists.
The Hunters won the first game of the series, coming off the momentum of their three big wins against the Barrie Bombers in round one.
The first period saw a lot of offensive firepower coming from both teams, with nine goals total scored in the opening frame - five by Kahnawake and four by Halton Hills.
In the second, the Hunters and the Bulldogs traded goals after Halton Hills tied the game at five in the first few minutes. The Hunters went up 6-5, the Bulldogs tied it again at six, and then the Hunters finished the period with three more goals to go up 9-6.
Halton Hills came out fast in the third, scoring three goals in five minutes to tie the game at 9.
After almost 10 minutes of intense back and forth, but still scoreless lacrosse, Owen Rice’s fourth goal of the game was the eventual winner. He scored his fifth two minutes later, and the Hunters added two more after that to win 13-9.
In game two, Kahnawake kept up the offensive tempo from game one, scoring three goals in the first half of the opening period.
In the second half of the period, it was Halton Hills’ turn to strike, scoring three times to end the first period 3-3.
Shakononhkwahtsheronniennis Rice opened the scoring in the second, before the Bulldogs scored another three goals to go up 6-4. The Hunters tied the game at six and kept it that way until the Bulldogs scored with 40 seconds left in the period to finish it up 7-6.
The first half of the third period was back and forth offensively once again. Owen tied it 7-7 less than two minutes in, before the Bulldogs went back up 8-7.
Kahnawake scored two to go up 9-8, but Hamilton tied it and then scored the game winner with a half period left to play. They scored twice more to eventually win 12-9.
Going into game three, the Hunters and the Bulldogs have been neck-and-neck, with no team running away with any games.
To continue keeping things close and to try and pull out a series win, the Hunters will need to keep doing as they have done when they’re at their best: play good defense, get turnovers, and take advantage of the offensive momentum created by players like Owen and Shakononhkwahtsheronniennis Rice, but also Rakawineh Elijah, Reese Nugent, and Mason Sanden.
“Whatever works, you can’t predict how us or them are going to play, so whatever’s working is what we’re going to stick with. Like our coach says, if we trust the process we will win,” said Hunter Jackson Norton, who has an assist in the series so far.
With the series continuing against the second seed Bulldogs, and the very likely finals opponent being the still undefeated as of writing Akwesasne Thunder, the Hunters are not thinking about the regular season standings.
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“Our team does not look at whose first or who’s last, we just play our game and get the job done.”
They’ll look to do that in Halton Hills, starting with game three tonight (Friday) at 8 p.m. Game four will be tomorrow (Saturday) at 7 p.m. and game five, if necessary, will be Sunday at 1 p.m.
