OHSWEKEN – The Sr. B Six Nations Rivermen finished the 2015 regular season in first place, one point ahead of the second place St. Catharines Saints thanks to Saturday night’s 9-6 win over the Saints at the Gaylord Powless Arena and a 13-5 win over the Brooklin Merchants, Sunday.
Even after the Rivermen won Saturday, they still required the win in the last game of the regular season against the Merchants in Brooklin to overtake the Saints, which they did.
Saturday’s Rivermen versus Saints showdown was as intense as any playoff game, with home floor advantage up for grabs.
The Rivermen started well with goals scored by Marty Hill and Wayne VanEvery, but the Saints surged back with late period goals by Jordie Daradick, Shane Adams, and Dan Keane to take a 3-2 lead into the first intermission.
Daradick and Keane gave the Saints a 5-2 lead before Roger Vyse and cousin Holden Vyse took charge of the situation scoring late to remain one goals behind heading into the final 20 minutes.
Torry VanEvery, playing this year with St. Catharines, opened up a two goal lead at 1:15 of the third, before the Rivermen exploded for the last five goals of the game scored by Ian Martin, Mike Miller, two more from Roger Vyse and a last minute goal by Holden Vyse.
Momentum from the critical come-from-behind win spilled over in Brooklin the next night. The Rivermen have had success against the Merchants all season, which creating a little less pressure going into the last regular season game.
Six Nations and the Merchants battled to a 4-3 first period with the Rivermen leading thanks to Roger Vyse’s powerplay goal at 16:03 from Wayne VanEvery and Marty Hill. VanEvery scored two first period goals as well with Delby Powless adding one.
Brooklin tied the game early in the second but that only unleashed the Rivermen attackers who gathered the next six goals before Brooklin closed the period down 10-5.
Third period goals by Ian Martin, Brock Boyle and Stu Hill put the game on ice. Playoffs begin this week, however, the schedule was not complete by press time.
