Storm Novice 2 Win Tournament

Submitted by Johanne Sullivan

On Saturday, July 5, 2014, the Akwesasne Minor Lacrosse Association's Novice 2 team traveled to Oshawa to participate in the Braver than Brave tournament. The tournament was held in honour of Tucker Williams, an eight-year-old boy suffering from Burkitt's Lymphoma. His father is Shawn Williams, a player with the National Lacrosse League's Buffalo Bandits.

The Storm first faced the Caledon Bandits. The Bandits won the game 7-2. The Storm's only two goals came from Dawson Lazore on an assist from Rarennenhawi ("Howie") Cook-Francis and James Sullivan and from Cook-Francis on an assist from Damon Oakes and the goaltender Bently Graw. The Storm rebounded from its loss for its second game against the Guelph Regals. It was a dominating performance with the Storm winning 12-1. Dawson got the scoring underway in the first period on an assist from Rylan Adams and Gavin Thompson; it was closely followed by Camrin King-Gorman on an assist from Louis Thompson and Sullivan. Everyone contributed with goals coming from Richard Thompson, Sullivan, Cook-Francis (x4), Louis Thompson, Rawennas Swamp, Rylan Adams, and Oakes.

The team's lone win enabled it to play in the championship game against the Novice 2 Peterborough Lakers. The Lakers scored first, but the Storm's Oakes tied it up a few minutes later unassisted. The Lakers were ahead by two going into the third period. The Storm's Lazore suffered two back-to-back penalties during the second period enabling the Lakers to score. The Storm were undeterred; King-Gorman scored early in the third period assisted by L. Thompson and Carter Jackson. The tying goal came from Swamp on an assist from Cook-Francis and the winning goal came from King-Gorman on an assist from Jackson and Carsten Mitchell. The Storm won the A championship for the tournament. It was a great overall team effort. The Novice 2 team is coached by Tom Smart, assisted by Phillip Gray Sr., Daylan Adams and trained by Darcy Jackson.