Muskies take the lead in TNLL Championship Series

The race for the title of Three Nations Lacrosse League Champions is well underway as the Snake Island Muskies posted their second win in the best of five series this past Tuesday night at the A’nowara’ko:wa Arena.

“I’ve been following lacrosse since my son Shane was 4-years-old,” said one spectator Joe Francis, whose son Shane Francis played for the Jr. A Indians. “This series has had a lot of good play so far.”

In Game #1 of the Championship series the Snake Island Muskies blew past the other contenders for the title, the St. Regis Braves by a score of 9-5. According to the QSLL-TNLL Senior B Lacrosse League website the St. Regis Braves are at the top of the leaderboard for the season with a record of 11-4-1, while the Snake Island Muskies trailed in the third seed position with a 9-7 record.

“It’s been pretty even so far,” said another spectator Richard Mitchell whose son owns the Snake Island Muskies. “It has been an exciting series to watch so far.”

Exciting indeed as the Game #2 of the series was held on Sunday night at the Anowarakowa Arena. The Braves took the lead at the end of the first period by one goal with a score of 4-3. The Braves then held the Muskies at bay during the second period ending with a score of 11-3. The Muskies rallied in the third period scoring 5 goals to counter the Braves 3, but ultimately there wasn’t enough time left in the game for the Muskies to continue their scoring streak to overcome the deficit. The Braves took Game #2 with a final score of 13-11, forcing the series to run to Game #4.

Game #3 was even more exciting to the packed house at the Anowarakowa Arena than the momentum generated at the end of Game #2. The Snake Island Muskies and St. Regis Braves both showed up ready to battle for the advantage in the series. Joe Hall of the Snake Island Muskies managed to score the first goal of the game well into the first period at 10:42 with an assist going to Josh Sanderson. The St. Regis Braves finally countered that first goal at 18:48, tying the game at 1-1 by a goal from Brett Bucktooth with the assist going to Mickey Gilcrest. The second period saw a flurry of goals from both sides ending with a one-goal lead for the Snake Island Muskies by a score of 5-4.

Pistol Pete Jacobs started off scoring for the St. Regis Braves tying the game at 5-5 with an assist from Ron Cogan and Daylen Logan at 3:06. Tyson Square of the Braves was sent to the penalty box to serve a two-minute penalty for slashing and the Muskies mounted their efforts to capitalize on the man-up advantage. The Braves worked hard to maintain possession of the ball as they ran down the clock and managed to score again just seconds after the penalty expired. The Braves pulled into the lead with a goal by AJ Bucktooth with the assist going to Brett Bucktooth and Pete Jacobs at 10:50.

The Snake Island Muskies countered by tying the game up again with a goal at 12:04 by Blaine Manning with assists going to Josh Sanderson and Kariwate Mitchell. The Muskie offense charged down the floor on a quick transition play taking several successive shots on net until Raweras Mitchell scored at 14:07 to pull his team ahead 7-6.

Not to be outdone, the St. Regis Braves mounted a counter-offensive with smooth give-and-go passing between Pete Jacobs and Josh Francis allowing Tyson Square to pull through the middle of the Muskies defense to score again, tying the game 7-7 at 15:40.

The Snake Island Muskies took possession of the ball and worked it around the perimeter of the Braves defense. Facing down a Braves defensemen, Ryan Oakes accepted a pass from Blaine Manning and immediately shot low at the net in an unexpected move that had the ball ricocheting off the Braves goalies feet and into the net at 17:39 giving the Muskies the lead again at 8-7.

Despite several attempts from both teams to start the brawl that the crowd was waiting for, calmer heads prevailed as neither team wanted to give the other the man-up advantage that could potentially cost them the game. With 12 seconds left on the clock the Braves had just killed the shot clock and took possession of the ball with enough time for one last play. With less than 10 seconds left a Braves player took position in a last ditch-attempt to tie the game yet again and force it into overtime. The player shot and hit the post dashing any hope of the Braves for taking Game #3, giving the Muskies a 2-1 game advantage.

Game #4 will be played tonight at the A’nowara’ko:wa Arena beginning at 8:00pm. If the Snake Island Muskies win, they take the Championship and if the St. Regis Braves win they will force Game #5 to be played on Saturday at 8:00pm.