OAKVILLE — A line up of President’s Cup tournament games rested ahead of the Six Nations Senior ‘B’ Rivermen in Oakville at the Toronto Rock Athletic Centre last week.
A positive start was earned in the first game of the tournament that pitted them against the Oakville Rock on Sunday, August 27, which they walked away from with a victory 5-4.
Their next opponents proved to be more difficult, as the Rivermen moved on to face the Snake Island Muskies on Monday, August 28. the game sat at 6-8 for the Muskies. The Rivermen then had to take on the Edmonton Miners after brief a break, finishing with an 8-6 for the Miners.
Their next game fell in the evening of Tuesday, August 29 set against the Ladner Pioneers, the tournament favourite.
In the first period, the Pioneers earned a lead 2-0 within the first 15 minutes of play. In the second period, the Pioneers earned anther two goals before the Rivermen responded 10 minutes in. David Brock earned a goal that got the ball rolling for Danton Miller, who scored a short-handed goal 60 seconds later. To close the period, the Pioneers earned one more, making the game 5-2.
In the third period, Greg Elijah-Brown scored the only goal from Patrick Corbett, while the Pioneers added three more to their tally. This finalized the third loss to the Rivermen, 8-3.
With a 1-3 record, the Rivermen entered their fifth game against the Kahanwake Mohawks on Wednesday, August 30.
The first period gave the Mohawks a lead after three goals were scored. But the Rivermen opened scoring with a single by Danton Miller from Jordan Goddard. To close the period, Mason Kamminga came through with an unassisted goal making the game 3-2 for the Mohawks.
In the second period. The Mohawks led again with two initial goals, but Mason Kamminga went for his second from Mike McLaughlin and Wayne Hill from Jordan Goddard. The Rivermen earned anther two goals within minutes of each other, one from Winter Rivera and another from Greg Elijah-Brown. A single was earned by the Mohawks, but Danton Miller cancelled it out with a feed from Marcus Elvin. Jordan Goddard closed the period, giving the Rivermen their first lead, 8-6.
In the final period, the Mohawks played catch up but were unsuccessful. Wesley Whitlow put a single away from Jordan Goddard, followed by two from the Mohawks. Another bury came from Winter Rivera with two minutes left, and the Mohawks mustered a single to bring the game dangerously close to a fourth period. With 18 second left, possession was passed back and forth on the Rivermen’s side until the game ended at 10-9. This earned the Rivermen their second win.
Having a record of 2-3, the Rivermen played their final match against the Tuscarora Tomahawks on Thursday, August 31.
Eric Martin opened scoring for the Rivermen from Oakley Thomas. The Tomahawks responded with two of their own, but Jordan Goddard closed the period with a tie, 2-2.
In the second period, the Tomahawks led in with the first goal, which was cancelled out by a single from Greg Elijah-Brown. Mason Hill came through with two Rivermen goals over a Tomahawks single. But the Tomahawks made headway by the end of the period and tallied two more, finishing with a 6-4 lead.
In the third, the Rivermen tapered off with a single goal from Wayne Hill fed by Jordan Goddard. The Tomahaws cleared three goals, two of them on an empty net as the Rivermen attempted two 6-player plays to break the lead.
This closed the Rivermen’s run for the ‘Prezzy,’ and allowed the Ladner Pioneers, Snake Island Muskies, Oakville Rock and Edmonton Miners to progress forward to the semi-finals on September 1. Ladner defeated the Muskies 10-8, and the Edmonton Miners beat out the hosting Oakville Rock with a close 8-7 score.
The bronze medal game saw the Rock pummel the Muskies 18-9 on Saturday, September 2. As for the gold medal game, the Miners fell to the Pioneers 12-8 nearly without penalty minutes for both sides.
This gave the Ladner Pioneers their second President’s Cup in a row and will host the cup tournament in Ladner in 2024.
