SIX NATIONS – The Six Nations Rebels seemed to be playing with the visiting St. Catharines Spartans like a cat with a mouse for most of Friday night’s 14-9 win but when it all counted, the Rebels turned it on in the third, out-scoring the Spartans 6-2 to put the “W” up on their side of the ledger.
The Rebels are now 17-0 heading into what is expected to be a very tough Tuesday night game in Niagara against the second place Thunderhawks.
The Rebels started very slowly against the Spartans who were getting outstanding goaltending from David Herkimer in the St. Catharines net. Six Nations shooters still managed a 5-4 first period lead with goals scored by Ricky Smith, Clayton King, Garret Vyse-Square, Mitch Green and Kessler Doolittle.
Kyle Adams evened the score for St. Kitts which Travis Longboat, Mitch Green and Sherman Williams answered. However, Elliott KcKibbon and Brian Erskine closed the second period for the Spartans with 20 minutes left and only one goal down.
They came out of the dressing room loud and all stoked up to be the first team this season to beat the Rebels, but after Danny Bionco tied the score at 8-8, the Rebels either got bored or scared and dug in to leave the Spartans in the dust.
Josh Miller, Mitch Green, Travis Longboat and Layne Smith put the game out of reach for the visitors. The string was broken by Erskine, but it didn’t stop the Arrows from netting two more as Miller scored his second of the game and Travis Longboat collected his third to add to his four assists for a seven point game.
Six Nations outshot the Spartans 61-28 with Briley Miller earning the win blocking 19 of 28 St. Catharines shots.
Thursday night, in Hamilton, the Rebs tripled up on the Bengals 15-5 with Justin Martin carrying the hot stick with three goals and two assists. Miller earned his 16th win of the season
Looking ahead, the Rebels may not have the luxury of letting their opponents build any kind of momentum Monday night in Niagara. The Thunderhawks are a well-coached and explosive team, especially in their own barn, and the Jr. B Rebels will need to bring their “A” game to keep their winning streak alive.