KAHNAWAKE — After bringing the Presidents Cup to Six Nations back in 2015, the Six Nations Rivermen were given another shot at the cup after beating out the Oakville Titans to later the provincial title.
This year the tournament was hosted in Kahnawake by the Kahnawake Mohawks, and the newer Akwesasne Bucks joined this season to be the third Haudenosaunee run team.
It was unprecedented that the three teams would take all of the medal recognition this past weekend, but knowing that the Rivermen were returning to the national Senior-level box lacrosse championship, it was only expected that they would battle for gold.
First they took Ladner last Monday 14-11, then St. Albert 12-8 on Tuesday and Kahnawake on Wednesday 15-6. But following those games came their match with Snake Island which ended in a tie 12-12 after an overtime period with no scoring for other side.
But the following night the Rivermen redeemed their overtime tie with a win over Capital Region 11-3, bringing them to another tough opponent the following day.
With nearly an undefeated score, the Rivermen faced off with the Akwesasne Bucks, who also had performed a single tie after a series of wins.
And the Bucks came out hard as in the first period the Bucks put away three straight goals and one more at the end. Marshall Powless found the back of the net as the only answer made for the period, giving the Bucks an early lead 1-4.
In the second, the Bucks performed a three goal start again, but Zach Williams and Brooker Muir returned two. However the Bucks buried four more while Brooker Muir went for on unassisted goal and Greg Longboat Jr., earned another, bringing the score to 5-11 for the Bucks.
The Bucks repeated another three consecutive goals to start off the third period, with a one goal answer by Jonathan Jimmerson at the end. This made the score 6-14 for the Bucks.
For the final games of the week, Kahnawake met with St. Albert and the Rivermen were paired with the Bucks for a rematch.
But with the previous score, it was going to be a tough one.
This time, the first period began with a goal from Johnny Powless which was followed by one from the Bucks, and another two from Gates Abrams.
In between the Bugs scored one more for the rest of the period while the Rivermen racked up three more from Johnny Powless, Adam Bomberry and Marshall Powless.
The second allowed for two more goals for the Rivermen, from Leleand Powless and Johnny Powless while the Bucks put up one.
This brought the game to an uneasy score for the Bucks as the scoreboard rested at 8-3 for the Rivermen. They mustered two more goals in the third, but Greg Longboat Jr., closed the period with a final bury.
This closed the championship game 9-5, and hoisted the Rivermen once again at the top of Senior ‘B’. The Bucks took silver medals and Kahnawake beat out St. Albert 12-6 for the bronze medal spot, keeping all three medals in Haudenosaunee territory.
