SIX NATIONS – If lacrosse games only lasted two periods, the Six Nations Rebels would have been defeated by the visiting Niagara Thunderhawks, 4-2.
But in Jr. B lacrosse there are three periods and because of that, the Six Nations recorded their seventh win of the season thanks to a huge 5-0 third period show of power and speed by Rebels to win 7-4.
The importance of the game was underscored by the tight play of the first period. Thunderhawks were on the doorstep of taking a firm grip on first place with a win Friday night. The checking was close going both ways and both Briley Miller and Thunderhawks’ goalie Tyson McCool kept the score to 1-1 after 20 minutes of play and both goals came late in the period.
Conner Overstom scored first for Niagara at 15:59, but Josh Miller set things even again at 17:42.
Niagara looked confident heading into the first intermission after shutting down the Rebel’s explosive offense. The score remained tied 1-1 until a wobble began to show in the Niagara defence with WakeRiat BowHunter’s goal at 12:11 assisted by Garret Vyse-Squire.
Then the wheels completely fell off the Thunderhawk’s wagon when Travis Longboat, Vyse-Squire, Layne Smith and Josh Miller piled on a little more three minutes apart to end the second period with the Rebels suddenly ahead 6-1.
“We just started having fun and playing our way,” said Garret Vyse-Squire, who scored once and assisted on two more. “We figured them out. We started pressuring them and worked the ball. That’s all we did. We finally woke up I guess.”
The Thunderhawks fought back in the third, but left themselves with too much distance between themselves and the first place Rebels. Josh Miller scored three times in the win.
There was some concern when young Jr. lacrosse prodigy Layne Smith pulled up lame after a Rebels rush and limped off the floor and directly into the dressing room. It is not known at this time how serious the injury is.
Sunday sent the Rebels to Welland to face the last place Generals and returning with two more points after outranking the Generals 11-7.
The game was pretty well decided after the first period. The Rebels stormed the Generals 7-2. The Rebel’s speed was too much for the Generals as Daylan Hill, Travis Longboat, Danton Miller, Josh Miller and Garret Vyse-Hill swarmed Dylan Busby-Carver in the Welland net. Josh Miller and Vyse-Hill scored twice in the opening period.
The Generals settled down in the second and regrouped for a much better effort, but the damage was already done. It was 9-4 after two periods with Chayton King and Danton Miller scoring in the second and Longboat, and Martin Burning-Bomberry adding third period markers.
Thursday, May 26th, the Rebels travel to Hamilton to face the Bengals before returning home to host the St. Catharines Spartans at the ILA Friday night at 8 p.m. Then, it’s back on the road to Welland, Sunday at 7 p.m., for another shot at the Generals.
CUTLINES:
1911
Josh Miller scores one of his three goals against the Niagara Thunderhawks Friday night at the ILA. Miller with 34 points in 10 games, is third in scoring for the Rebels behind Travis Longboat (54 points) and Danton Miller (35 points). Photo by Jim Windle
1902
Garret Vyse-Squire is having a great season so far with the Rebels. He scored one and assisted on two more Friday night adding two goals and two assists Sunday for an 11 game total of 14 goals and 15 assists for 29 points, fourth best for the team.
