In their series against their top rivals, the Oakville Titans, the Six Nations Rivermen gave a full effort to put the series away in four games.
On August 3, they took their first victory 9-4 and gave up a win to the Titans in game two 3-2 the following night.
Following up with game three on Saturday night however, the Rivermen were quick to put in a strong effort for their home fans and family at the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena.
The first period went to the Rivermen as they racked up four initial goals one after the other starting with Gates Abrams, Riley Johnson, Wayne VanEvery and Stuart Martin. The Titans gave two back to close the period.
In the second, the Titans gave back four, but the Rivermen gave back the same with singles from Gates Abrams and Riley Johnson and a double from Greg Longboat Jr..
For the final 15, the Titans mustered an early double for an 8-8 tie, but the Rivemen weren’t going to let it remain for long.
Although a goal was taken back, Greg Longboat Jr., went for his third for a hat-trick as did Gates Abrams, while Stuart Martin and Adam Bomberry came through with singles to close the period.
This finalized game three 12-8 for the Rivermen.
Entering game four took the Rivermen away from home the following night. But playing out of home might have shown in the first period, as they gave up a 3-1 goal deficit with only one goal from Wayne Hill.
In the second, the Rivermen found their footing and put up two goals from Ashton Jacobs and Ian Martin. But the Titans answered back with two more themselves, while Ian Martin went for his second to close the period 4-5 for the Titans.
This left them a little behind, but the Titans came out strong and put away three more goals at the start of the third.
This made it appear that the series was going to continue into game five, but the Rivermen came back.
Zed Williams put up a single while Gates Abrams put three away to bring the game to an 8-8 tie. This brought game four into a 10 minute over time period, whereby the Rivermen commanded early on.
Zed Williams put another away while Riley Johnson came through nearly a minute later to give them a two goal lead. The Titans answered once but Greg Longboat Jr., put forth a single and assisted Brooker Muir for another. The Titans ended the game with a goal, but couldn’t take the lead as the final score came to 12-10 for the Rivermen.
The Rivermen returned home Ontario Champions and will look ahead to make another mark as they go for the Presidents Cup to be hosted by the Kahnawake Mohawks from August 26 to September 1.