Braves split two games, Muskies hand Indians first 2018 win

The St. Regis Braves split two games with Caughnawaga and Ottawa, and the Muskies gave the Indians their first win of the year.

The decisions leave the Braves with the best record among the six teams in the Three Nations and Quebec Senior B lacrosse leagues, 3-1. The Muskies are at 1-2.

A three goal burst toward the end of the June 1 Braves-Indians tilt brought Caughnawaga to within one goal of forcing overtime, but the Braves answered with two insurance goals and a tight defense in the final five minutes of play. The Indians hosted the game at Kahnawake Sports Complex. The Braves mostly dominated the first quarter, where their shooters produced seven goals and their defense allowed only two. Brett Bucktooth connected for the first goal of the game at 1:46, assisted by Alex Turner and Troy Lyons. Fifty-nine seconds later, Bucktooth passed to Jarrett Jacobs, who made the score 2-0 St. Regis. Luke Wiles, assisted by Dan Lazore, and Lane Bennett unassisted on a power play followed suit. At the 6:25 mark, Joe Hall on a play set up by Sose Regis put the Indians on the board. That would be followed by two Braves goals over the next seven minutes, Dwight Bero unassisted and Wiles assisted by Bucktooth and Geoff McNulty. Jacob Ruest fashioned the second Indians goal of the frame after taking a pass from squadmates Natie McComber and Joe Hall. John Jacobs closed first-period scoring with 8 seconds left on the clock, assisted by Bero.

The Indians outscored St. Regis in the second period, bringing the game close to a tie by the end of the stanza. After seven minutes of stalemate after returning to the cement, Hunter Hemlock fired a shot into the Braves’ net on a play set up by McComber and Teka Lazare. Regis followed suit just under one minute later with an assist credited to Ranonhsonni Deer. The Braves’ Bucktooth punched them ahead by five goals with back-to-back markers at 12:36 and 15:47, respectively assisted by Turner and Lyons. The Indians came back with a three-goal barrage before the buzzer -- Ruest assisted by Deer and unassisted off the sticks of Ben Green and Tioronhiakahre Jacobs.

With the scoreboard reading 9-7 going into the closing frame, Turner took 2:13 to score unassisted, followed by Dalston Day connected for what would hold up as the game-winner 42 seconds later, assisted by McNulty. Caughnawaga, not content to go down easily, blasted in a three-goal rally between 3:50 and 11:03. The points came from Chad Norton unassisted, Green (assisted by Hunter Hemlock and Ruest) and Hemlock (assisted by Ruest and Jamie McComber). The Braves’ reply was two insurance goals, Wiles assisted by Bennett and Bero assisted by Lukas Baldion.

Bucktooth led the St. Regis offense with three goals and two assists. Bero had a pair of goals and one helper. Wiles had a hat trick. Turner scored once and assisted twice. McNulty and Lyons tallied two assists each. Bennett scored once and assisted once. Singletons came from John Jacobs, Day and Jarrett Jacobs. Lazore assisted one play. Trey Adams earned the win in the net. Ruest led Caughnawaga with two goals and two assists. Hemlock had two goals and one assist. Green scored twice. Hall and Regis each scored once and assisted one play. Deer and Natie McComber each had a pair of helpers. Jacobs and Norton each scored once. Lazare and Jamie McComber each assisted a single play.

The Snake Island Muskies and Indians on June 2 went head-to-head on the St. Lawrence Centre Arena’s new turf field, which ended with the Caughnawaga contingent claiming their first win of 2018. The Indians quickly established dominance, outscoring their opponents 7-2 in the first period and 7-3 in the second. The Muskies started to regain their footing in the third period, where they punched in five markers and held the competition to just one, but it wasn’t enough to escape a five-goal deficit by the final buzzer.

For Snake Island, Skye Sunday paced the offense with three goals and two assists. Akwi David scored twice and also assisted two plays. Shane Francis had three assists. Jordan Thomas scored twice and had one helper. Brandon Swamp, Lee Thomas and Awennio David all connected for solo markers. Kobi Johnson, Corey Thompson and Grayson Phillips each fashioned solo assists.

For the Indians, Jacob Ruest scored twice and made six assists. Natie McComber scored once and assisted four plays. Ty Thompson and Hunter Hemlock each scored three times and assisted twice. Brandon Francis scored twice with two helpers. Ky Horn and Vaughan Harris each scored a pair of goals with one assist. Ni McComber and Okwi Stacey each logged a solo assist.

On the same day, the Braves and Axemen traded goals through the first period of their game but then the Ottawa contingent rallied for 12 consecutive goals to easily win the bout 15-5. The game was at Bell Centennial Arena in Nepean, Ontario. Aaron Forster posted two straight for the Axemen in seven minutes, which were sandwiched around a Braves goal from Troy Lyons, assisted by Luke Wiles. Their squadmate Lane Bennett then scored what would be their final goal until a little over six minutes into the closing stanza. Dan Lazore drew the assist. Lyons and Bennett would go on to each record one assist. Wiles ended up leading the Braves scoresheet with a goal of his own and two assists. St. Regis’s other goals came off the sticks of Dwight Bero and Mike Shea. Kyle Lewis tallied a solo helper. Trey Adams (23 saves, one assist) and Torry Bigtree (nine saves) split goaltender duties.

Blake Kenny led the Capital Region Axemen with a game-high three goals and five assists. Forster scored three times and also assisted three plays. Raj Wasson scored a pair of goals with three assists. Jordan Joncas scored three times and assisted a single play. Spencer Corkery scored twice and assisted twice. Mark Vradenburg had two assists. Cam MacMillen and Kyle MacFadden each netted singletons. Carter Bradour and Austin Robinson each logged solo helpers. Brett Parras (21 saves) and Chris Chuback (12 saves) covered the net.