Indians blow past Griffins in Jr. B lax playoffs; facing Green Gaels in round 2

By Andy Gardner.

The Akwesasne Indians defeated the Gloucester Griffins in the opening round of Ontario Junior B Lacrosse Association playoffs. They've moved on to face the Clarington Green Gaels in the next round and have beat them in two games so far.

Akwesasne needs just one more win in the best-of-five series to advance further. The next game is slated for Friday, July 15 at 8:30 p.m. at Garnet B. Rickard Recreation Complex in Bowmanville, Ont. Games four and five, if needed, are slated at the Rickard complex on Saturday, July 15 at 7:30 and Sunday, July 16 at 3 p.m.

The Indians' latest win against Clarington was 12-9 on Saturday, July 10 at Anowarakowa Arena. Akwesasne outscored the Gaels 5-4 in the first period, gave up four goals while scoring two in the middle stanza, and retook the match 5-1 in the closing frame. Carey Terrance Jr. scored what would hold up as the game-winning goal with just under five minutes left in regulation, with an assist from Kaleb Maylon.

The Indians' Kaleb Benedict set the offensive pace with a game-high five goals and two assists. Riley Roe scored once with four helpers. Terrance Jr. scored twice and assisted two other plays. Thanokatha Elijah and Zack Gignac each scored one goal with two assists. Austin Nichols and Cobie Cree each netted a singleton. Solo assists came from Skariwate Papineau, Kahentienni Thompson, Kyren Lazore and Maylon. Landyn Hill stood tall in the net with 41 saves and garnering the win.

Dennis Bryce and Nolan Schott each scored one goal with a pair of assists for Clarington. Goalie Ethan Harwood made 37 saves and was tagged with the loss.

The previous evening at Anowarakowa, the Indians won 11-8. Trailing 3-2 going into the second period, Akwesasne came alive on both sides of the box and worked to an 8-4 lead going into the third stanza, where both teams scored three times. Kelden King (two assists) buttressed the second period rally, scoring all three of his goals on the night between 2:46 and 8:59. Kaleb Benedict scored the game-winning goal early in the third period on a play set up by Kyren Lazore, who ended up tallying a total of two goals with five assists. Kaleb Benedict netted a hat trick with three assists. Skariwate Papineau scored twice with a helper. Zack Gignac assisted three goals. Kahentienni Thompson and Thanokatha Elijah each tallied two assists. Khyler Johnson contributed one goal. Solo assists came from Austin Nichols, Carey Terrance Jr. and Riley Roe. In the net, Sakaronhiotane Thompson turned aside 35 shots and tallied a win.

For the Green Gaels, Dennis Bryce scored two goals with four assists. Cole Tucker scored twice and assisted twice, while Bronsen Muller netted a solo marker with a trio of assists. Netminder Ethan Harwood made 46 saves and was stuck with a loss.

To wrap up the Gloucester series, Akwesasne played to two nailbiter finishes in their last two victories in the best-of-five series.

Their Sunday, July 3 road win that clinched the series was 10-9, coming down to the last goal within seconds of the regulation buzzer.

The Indians trailed after 20 minutes 4-1. In the second period, they started to come alive, bringing the score to 8-4 going into the third stanza. They went up to an 8-5 disadvantage after a Skariwate Papineau goal at 2:40, but were pushed back to a 9-5 deficit after Hunter Lubiniecki scored for the Griffins 7:48, which proved to be the final straw for the Indians. They responded with four unanswered goals, bringing to score to 9-all with 3:55 left in the frame. With 28 seconds left, Kaleb Benedict took control of the ball and got it over to Cobie Cree, who scored a game-winning fifth unanswered goal.

Benedict led the Akwesasne offense with three goals and three assists. Scoring one goal with one assist apiece were Papineau, Carey Terrance Jr., Zack Gignac and Kyren Lazore. Austin Nichols, Riley Roe and Kaleb Maylon each tallied a pair of helpers. Thanokatha Elijah, Khyler Johnson and Cobie Cree all tallied solo goals. Kahentienni Thompson fashioned an assist. Sakaronhiotane Thompson denied 35 Gloucester scoring attempts and earned a win.

For the Griffins, Austin Lamoureux scored three goals with two assists. Lubiniecki scored once with four helpers. In the net, Josh Laporte made 46 saves and added a loss to his record.

The previous game also ended on the road with an Akwesasne win by a goal, this time 7-6. The Indians came out strong, scoring four goals in the first period while shutting out the Griffins. Akwesasne added two more goals in the second period, giving up the first Gloucester goal of the game. The Griffins mounted a comeback in the third period, albeit unsuccessfully, scoring five goals to the Indians' one.

Carey Terrance Jr. scored three goals, including the game-winner, with one assist. Skariwate Papineau scored once with two assists. Zack Gignac scored once and assisted once. Cobie Cree helped set up a pair of goals. Solo markers came off the sticks of Austin Nichols and Riley Roe, while a solo assist came from Khyler Johnson. Sakaronhiotane Thompson made 29 saves and earned a win.

On the Griffins side, Hunter Lubiniecki scored a hat trick with two assists. Josh Laporte made 16 saves and was tagged a loss.

The Indians lost one game out of the Gloucester series, played June 30 at Anowarakowa Arena. The final score was 13-7.

The Griffins scored all the goals they would need in the first period – eight to Akwesasne's three. Gloucester stayed ahead 10-4 after the middle stanza. The third period saw each team score three times each. Zack Gignac led a balanced Indians offense with two goals and one assist. Scoring one goal with one assist apiece were Kaleb Benedict, Skariwate Papineau and Cobie Cree. Kyren Lazore and Kaleb Maylon netted one goal each. Khyler Johnson tallied a helper.