OHSWEKEN – Winning is fun and the Six Nations Sr. B Rivermen are having a ball so far this young season.
The Rivermen defeated the Ennismore James Gang for the second time this early OLA Sr. B lacrosse season, Friday night at the Gaylord Powless Arena, this time by a score of 7-3.
The teams ran pretty well stride-for-stride throughout the first two periods before the Gang ran out of gas and the Rivermen found the key to Ennismore goalie Ryan Masters’ net.
Jeff Swift put the Gang on the board first but Roger Vyse quickly responded by dropping the ball over the shoulder of Masters assisted by Marty Hill and Cory Bomberry.
The James Gang came back with two goals to lead 3-1 but a inexplicable and unnecessary gamble went badly for the Gang with seconds remaining in the period.
Ennismore decided to pull their goalie for an extra man even though they were leading by two goals. Tommy Montour snagged an Ennismore pass and flipped the ball to Stu Martin who found the empty net from well within his own zone as time ran out to make it 3-2 Ennismore after one period.
Montour and Bomberry combined again to set up Jesse Johnson for the only goal of the second period to tie at 3-3.
The St. Catharines player dispersal after that team folded between seasons, brought a familiar face back to Six Nations fans. Former Six Nations Arrow, Grant Crawley, got stronger and stronger as the game wore on robbing the James Gang of several great scoring chances all night.
“It’s good to be back in Six Nations,” he said following the game. “It’s sad the St. Catharines team folded, but it’s sure good to be back.”
Crawley seemed to be right in the pocket, as they say, and kept the Rivermen close when the Gang were buzzing around the Six Nations net in the early going.
Rodd Squire Jr., Vyse, and Wayne Hill all scored 40 seconds apart in the fourth minute of play and Marty Hill added another a little more than a minute later and the game was virtually over. When the Gang got their chances, and they did get a number of them, Crawley was there to backstop the win.
Saturday, the Rivermen made it four straight wins to open the 2016 Sr. B season with a 13-8 win against the Wallaceburg Thrashers. Wayne Hill exploded with an eight-point game scoring twice and assisting on six. Roger Vyse contributed three goals and two assists while, Johnnie Rae scored three, Cory Bomberry added two goals and two assists as did Travis Bland.
The Rivermen will be away from the GPA until Sat. June 4 when they host the Thrashers again. That’s not to imply they won’t be busy. Between now and then, the Rivermen will be facing the Oakville Titans twice, the Wallaceburg Thrashers, and the Owen Sound North Stars, all on the road.
