Salmon River Boys Lax earn MVP and Coach of the Year

The top-seeded Shamrocks (12-1) took on Canton Central in the championship game on Thursday back at Nicholas Field starting at 7:30 p.m. The two finalists split their regular season matchups.

Canton won over Salmon 12 to 3 in Thursday night's win. The Golden Bears trailed 3-1 midway through the second quarter after Ryan Oakes, Jr. made the first of his two goals. Kahentaienni Thompson ended a Salmon River scoring drought that went for nearly 22 minutes but Canton restored the three-goal lead four minutes later before Stone Chubb closed out the scoring with 16 seconds remaining.

Chubb tied the game less than a minute later with an unassisted strike and Thompson gave the Shamrocks their first lead with 38 seconds left off an assist from Oakes.

Canton goalie Todd finished with seven saves, including a kick save on a breakaway attempt from close range by Oakes in the fourth quarter. Salmon's Sakaronhiotane Thompson made nine of his 11 saves in the first half working in the crease.

Shamrocks' coach Jim Barnes said, "Give Canton credit. They came ready to play tonight. We had our opportunities but didn't capitalize. We made mental mistakes and we started taking penalties in the second half. Those aren't the kinds of things you can afford to do against a team like Canton."

He added, "Our kids fought hard though. This wasn't the way that we wanted to see the season end, but it was exciting to be back playing again after losing out on last season. Both teams worked hard. Both goaltenders played great. It was a great game. I just felt great to be back."

Coach Jim Barnes for the second time in his coaching career received Coach of Year distinction at the end of the game.

This is Coach Barnes 4th Coach of the Year award.