What a year for Six Nations lacrosse! Four Six Nations teams won OLA Provincial titles and all four either have or are about to play for National honours. The Jr B Rebels have filed for permanent custody of the Founders Cup which they have held for the last fourth years,. The Jr. A Arrows Express returned the Minto Cup to Six Nations for the first time since 2007. The Sr. B Six Nations Rivermen, in its second year of operation, came oh so close to bringing the Presidents Cup home from Coquitlam, and after such a great year, what a wonderful reward the Major Series Six Nations Chiefs have given the community by bringing the Mann Cup Championships to the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena.
What about ‘dem Chiefs? After being pushed to seven games and having to play the final game in front of 3,800 screaming Peterborough Laker fans, the Chiefs came back from the brink to shock the Lakers and their loud and proud fans with one of the gutsiest comebacks in recent Sr. A memory.
Evan Kirk is a world class goaltender who is a big reason why the Chiefs got through the playoffs leading up to Game #7. He had a very untimely and uncharacteristic shaky start Sunday night, falling behind 4-2 in the first 17 minutes of the game. Fortunately, with the Chiefs as it is with the rest of the teams from Six Nations, goaltending is rarely an issue, and back-up Brandon Miller brought his “A” game, just in case it might be needed.
Give credit to the Chiefs coaching staff for recognizing Kirk was not at his best, and pulling him before it was too late. Many times a coach will give his struggling goaltender a chance to right the ship on his own, but in a Game #7, with all chips on the table, Rich Kilgour, Duane Jacobs and “Mouse” Henry made their move early, and the gamble worked beautifully.
Miller responded with one of his best efforts all year at exactly the right time. His defense also turned it up to the max and together they kept John Grant, Scott Self, Mark Steenhaus Cory Vicarelli and Shawn Evans off the score sheet for the last 38 minutes of the game. Remember, this Lakers team averaged more than 11 goals a game this season. Peterborough’s last goal of the year was scored by John Grant at 2:17 of the second period.
Remarkable!
Meanwhile, the Chiefs attackers were chipping away at the Laker lead and broke through the Peterborough rearguard at will to score a string of seven unanswered Six Nations goals.
Now, Jr. B Rebels fans, Jr. A Arrows Express fans, Sr. B Rivermen fans and Major Series Chiefs fans will play host to the game’s most coveted award – the Mann Cup, here at the home and the undisputed hub of lacrosse, Six Nations.
The Chiefs will be playing a foe from the west with a big chip on its shoulders from their disappointing loss to these same Chiefs last year at this time, at home in Victoria BC. The Shamrocks are hungry and will come with a purpose to erase the memory of politely watching the Chiefs celebrate the Mann Cup Championship in front of their disappointed fans. They would love to see those roles reversed this year.
Get ready Six Nations, wear your Rebels, Arrows, Rivermen, and Chiefs sweaters with pride and let’s fill the ILA for every game starting this Friday, Sept 5th.
