OAKVILLE — A long tournament rests ahead of the Six Nations Senior ‘B’ Rivermen, who continue to represent in the President’s Cup in Oakville at the Toronto Rock Athletic Centre.
A positive start was earned in the first game of the tournament that pitted them against the Oakville Rock on Sunday, August 27.
Familiarity and precision allowed the Rivermen to achieve a lead in the first period. After the Rock scored one, Justin Martin scored on a break-away from Dustin Hill. With one minute left in the period, Winter Rivera earned another from Greg Elijah-Brown, making the game 2-1.
In the second period, Danton Miller increased the lead with a goal fed from Winter Rivera. The Rock responded with a goal of their own, but Layne Smith cancelled it out from Ryley Johnson. The Rock offered anther Goa, to which Dalton Sulver cancelled again from Eric Martin.
This made the game 5-3 in the third, where the Rivermen held their own and allowed just one goal in. This finalized the game 5-4 for the Rivermen.
Their next opponents proved to be more difficult, as the Rivermen moved to face the Snake Island Muskies on Monday night.
The first period saw the Muskies take a steep lead 1-4, as Wayne Hill earned the sole goal after a feed from Layne Smith. Going into the second period, the Muskies earned two more goals in the first 10 minutes of play, while the Rivermen earned two in the latter half. Water Rivera and Jordan Goddard worked to bring the score up to 3-6, a comfortable lead still for the Muskies.
In the third period, Winter Rivera delivered a goal from Wesley Whitlow while the Muskies offered two goals before the end of the period. To pick at the lead, Greg Elijah-Brown and Wayne Hill secured singles to finalize the game at 6-8 for the Muskies.
Coming away from their first loss in the same day, the Rivermen had to take on the Edmonton Miners after a break.
The first and second periods saw the Rivermen lose footing on defence and not gain traction on offence. This allowed for six goals to be scored by the Miners before this third period.
Returning back to the floor for the third, however, seemed to spark focus and determination as the Rivermen opened the period with a goal by Justin Martin. Danton Miller closely followed with another from Layne Smith. Interrupted by a single goal from the Miners, Justin Martin went for his second goal with a break away feed from Marcus Elvin. Just moments later, Layne Smith fired another goal from Jordan Goddard on the power play.
With two minutes remaining, Layne Smith fired another from Greg Elijah-Brown to close the game at a much closer, 8-6.
Their next game falls in the evening of Tuesday, August 29 set against the Ladner Pioneers, too late for reporting in this issue of the Two Row Times. They will play two more games by Thursday, August 31, facing the Kahnawake Mohawks on Wednesday, and the Tuscarora Tomahawks the following evening, both at 5:00 p.m..
