Time for playoff push for Hunters
The Kahnawake Junior C Hunters will look to stop their three-game losing streak this weekend, a streak that included an 18-7 loss to the Nepean Knights. Courtesy Robert Hoselton
It doesn’t happen often that you drop in the standings after a win, but that is where the Kahnawake Junior B Hunters find themselves after returning from their week off with a 13-3 win over the Gloucester Griffins on Wednesday.
Before the break, the Hunters had been in second place in the Ontario Junior B Lacrosse League (OJBLL) East standings and now, at time of writing, the 9-5 Hunters sit fourth, two points back of the Barrie Bombers - who have played 16 games to the Hunters’ 14 - for third. The still-undefeated 14-0 Akwesasne Thunder are first in the East, with the 11-3 Halton Hills Bulldogs in second.
With six games to go before the playoffs, the Hunters will have a few opportunities to bank some points and stay in the top half of the East - the top eight of 12 teams in each conference make the postseason.
This weekend at the Kahnawake Sports Complex, they will play the Newmarket Redbirds on Saturday at 7 p.m. and the West Durham Ironheads on Sunday at 1 p.m.
At time of writing, Newmarket is 4-9 and West Durham is 5-8; they will have played against each other on Thursday evening, after The Eastern Door’s publishing deadline.
Next week, they will have a stretch of four games in five nights to end their regular season. They will play against the Thunder on the road on June 10, the Nepean Knights at home on June 11, and then a rematch against the Thunder at home on June 12. The regular season will conclude against Gloucester at home on June 14.
Junior C Hunters looking to make adjustments
Having lost three straight games, and with five games to go before the playoffs, Kahnawake Junior C Hunters head coach Eric Jacobs is hoping to use the remaining games to prepare his team for the postseason - every team qualifies for the Ontario Junior C Lacrosse League playoffs.
The Hunters lost 10-5 to the North Shore Kodiaks on May 24, 17-8 to the Nepean Knights May 30, and 13-8 to the Whitby Warriors on May 31. They now sit fourth in the six-team Eastern division.
“I was telling them at practice, I’m not worried about winning or losing the last five games of the year. It’s about getting all the smaller things right, correcting some minor issues, all getting on the same page, and looking forward to the playoff run,” said Jacobs.
He said that by correcting those mistakes and executing details, the results will come.
Injuries have not helped matters for the 5-6 Hunters, who have had to use many different players on short stints to shore up their lineups.
That has resulted in Jacobs and the rest of the staff having a better idea of their options going forward.
“It’s a good thing and a bad thing. You’re happy to get players back into the lineup, but then that means somebody has to be moved out of the lineup. That’s the bad side of putting a roster together. You want everybody to play, but rules are rules, and we can’t have everybody play, so it’s not an easy choice,” said Jacobs.
The next two games for the Hunters will be on the road. Today (Friday), they will play against the Cornwall Celtics at 7 p.m. They will face the Peterborough Lakers on Saturday at 2 p.m.
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Jacobs is hoping they will be able to play a better game against Cornwall than their last one, which they lost 12-6 on May 15.
“Whether it’s a big win or a tight loss, I just want better effort and have things heading in the right direction, so the players’ morale against them, and in the playoffs, are higher,” said Jacobs.
