A wowing jump into the Junior B. Season now sets the SN Rebels 8-0.
SIX NATIONS — Usually by mid-April, lacrosse fans start to feel the seasonal itch to watch something exciting and this season the SN Rebels came to deliver as they now sit at the top in league standings.
With eight games and eight wins and the Rebels being a team full of younger legs, the scoreboards are showing that they’re giving teams loaded with veterans a hard run for their money.
The team matched up with the Niagara Thunderhawks last Friday at the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena and the match up gave spectators a good show.
An impressive first period went to the Thunderhawks as they got their mark on the board with a goal 3 minutes in and another only a minute later after sending some of their opponents to the box. This seemed to rattle the Rebels until their focus turned to returning the goals, and Garrett Vyse-Skye scored with assists from Daylen Hill and Gates Abrams.
But, the Thunderhawks were putting up a fight and returned another one, and then another. This left the Rebels with a two point deficit and their focus quickly turned to their defence. With younger and faster players, they used a strong man-on-man set up and kept the Thunderhawks to the outside. This forced a lot of outside shots that Niagara simply couldn’t score from.
After figuring out how to keep the Thunderhawks to the outside, Kobe Whitcomb buried with a pass from Mason Hill, from Riley Miller. Soon after, Gates Abrams put his name on the sheet again as he worked the crease and scored top side with assists from Wesley Whitlow and Whitcomb. This left the Rebels needing to play a little catch up 3-4 after the first.
Leading into the second and finding that their defence was working flawlessly, the Rebels opened the scoring with a goal two minutes in by Jesse Longboat from Bo Peltier and Adam Martin. To break the tie, Justin Martin swooped in a mere ten seconds later and buried with passes from Whitlow and Daylen Hill.
The second period seemed to have the Thunderhawks bushed from chasing and trying to out maneuver the younger Rebels, and their attempts to take back their initial lead were futile. But rather than getting physical and finding themselves in the box, it simply looked like they were too tired to try.
And the Rebels took advantage.
After taking the lead, Austin Giles got his name on the sheet with his first goal and assists coming from Whitlow and Justin Martin. To end the period and within seconds of each other, Adam Martin scored his first and so did Mason Hill.
The third period offered a bit more of a game as the Thunderhawks returned to the floor with a little more gumption. But two minutes in, Whitlow scored his first goal after earning five assists and giving his team a 6 point lead. A few minutes later Abrams worked the crease again, giving the Rebels their final goal for the game.
This left the Thunderhawks to play catch-up, and seeming to be dissatisfied with the scoreboard, they racked three more up through power plays. This finalized the game 11-7.
The Rebels eighth game was away in St. Catharines on Sunday, May 6, and they left with an eight point lead 12-4 versus the Spartans.
