War on the floor
Greg Horn (www.kahnawakenews.com) - 4/25/2009
Lacrosse is back in Kahnawake and fans were treated to a great game as the Caughnawaga Indians and the Vaudreuil Dynomytes opened the 2009 Quebec Senior Lacrosse League season Friday night at the Kahnawake Sports Complex. The two teams played a thrilling game with the final score being knotted at 17-17 after four periods.
The Dynomytes opened the scoring at 1:52 of the first period with Jeff Salmon putting the ball into the net. Assists went to Rajinder Wasson and Ryan Jacobs. Just over a minute later though, the Indians struck back off a goal by Chad Norton (Ben Green and Jonathan Kane).
The action was non-stop in the first period with the lead changing hands several times. By the end of the first the Dynomytes were leading 7-6. Other Indians scorers were Green, Kirby Joe Diabo, Pat Hargreaves, Eddy Dickson and Kane. Scoring for the Dynomytes were Sako Swamp (2), Bryden Denyes, Wasson (2) and Ryan Jacobs.
The Dynomytes extended their lead to 8-6 on a goal by Wasson just 27 seconds into the second period. Ten second later Norton scored his second of the night cutting the Dynomytes lead down to 8-7. Charlie Goodleaf tied the game at 5:38. Cole McComber then scored an unassisted goal to give the Indians the lead after intercepting a pass and running down the length of the rink to score. Then at 11:30 Diabo extended the lead to 10-8.
However, just six seconds later Swamp brought the Dynomytes to within one of the Indians. Salmon then tied it up at 10-10. Then Indians rookie Logan Kane scored his first goal as a Senior to give his team an 11-10 lead at 12:40. Diabo then made extended the lead to 12-10 as the period was nearing its end at 17:18. Less then a minute later Denyes scored for the Dynomytes closing out the period with a score of 12-11.
Swamp tied the game at 12-12 at 3:09 of the third and Denyes game the Dynomytes a 13-12 lead at 5:16. Then Kaniat Deer scored his first of the season to tie the game up at 13-13 midway through the period. Goodleaf then gave the Indians the lead at 13:35. But at 13:56 Wasson evened the score again at 14-14. With less than three minutes left in the game Salmon gave the Dynomytes a 15-14 lead. Not to be outdone, Norton tied it back up at 15-15 at 17:53 and the score would stay the same through the rest of regulation.
The game then headed into overtime, which was ten minutes long and whoever scores the most wins the game. Norton and Deer scored for the Indians giving them at 17-15 lead. But the Dynomytes would not give up and Swamp and Salmon each scored to tie it up at 17-17, which is how the score would stay.
The Indians travel to Akwesasne to take on the Cornwall Island Redman at 8 p.m. at the A’nowara’kó:wa Arena. The Kahnawake Mohawks have their home opener tomorrow afternoon at 3 p.m. at the Kahnawake Sports Complex as they take on the Akwesasne Mad Mohawks. The Indians and Mohawks square off for the first time this season next Saturday, May 2 at 8 p.m.
GregH@kahnawakenews.com
34 goals and no winner
04/25/2009
The Indians hosted the new Vaudreuil Dinomytes last night at the Kahnawake Sports Complex for the QSLL season opener and what a show both teams put on the floor. The game went into overtime but made no winner. FInal score: 17 - 17.
"Bigger nets made a huge difference " said coach McComber, "but we'll adjust". This year, the Sr B loop will use 4'0 x 4'6" size nets, as in the Major Series Lacrosse (Sr A).
The Indians will be on the road this Sunday April 26th as they visit the Cornwall Island Redmen at the Turtle dome. Game is set at 8 pm.
Indians' season opener this Friday
04/23/2009
The 2009 Quebec Senior Lacrosse season commenced last night as the 2008 QSLL champions, the Kahnawake Mohawks defeated the Askwesasne Thunderbirds 16 -3.
The Caughnawaga Indians are hosting the new Vaudreuil Dinomytes this friday night at the Kahnawake Sports Complex. The game is set to start at 8:00 PM.
As some of you may have read, the Quebec Senior Lacrosse League and the Three Nations Senior Lacrosse of the ILA have agreed to an interlocking schedule. For complete details, please visit the QSLL-TNSL website.
The QSLL and TNSL new website
04/20/2009
The Quebec Senior Lacrosse League (QSLL) and the Three Nations Senior Lacrosse (TNSL) came to an agreement to host both leagues under the same website. Lacrosse fans are invited to visit the combined website HERE for complete news stories, stats and schedules.
TNSL press release
TNSL Executive - 4/20/2009
The TNSL (Three Nations Senior Lacrosse) is pleased to announce that the 2009 season will commence this Sunday night April 19 at the Anonwara’kowa Arena. The first game of the season will see the Cornwall Island Redmen hosting last year’s champions, the Massena Muskies for a 7:00 start time.
The TNSL is also pleased to announce that Mike Benedict Sr. will be sitting in as the new Commissioner to take charge of the second year Sr. “B” league. Mike Benedict is filling in the void that was left absent after former Commissioner Mark Martin had chosen to step down for the 2009 season. Iroquois Lacrosse Association President Mike Mitchell is pleased with the new appointment “he is well respected as a person and as a lacrosse icon, the players and coaches will respect his decisions and ideas” Mitchell said.
The TNSL not only has a new Commissioner for the 2009 season, but it also has new competition, the Iroquois Lacrosse Association and the Quebec Federation of Lacrosse have developed an agreement that will allow for interlocking games between both the Three Nations Senior Lacrosse and the Quebec Senior Lacrosse League. All games played between the TNSL and QSLL will be sanctioned and will count for overall points in determining playoff standings. Each team will conclude their own playoffs to determine the overall champions within their individual leagues.
The new Commissioner Mike Benedict Sr. announced that he is excited about the agreement between both leagues “lacrosse seems to get very strong in certain years, I think this is going to be one of those years. I’m excited about the development, there’s deep rooted rivalries between Kahnawake and Akwesasne, it goes way back. I know that the lacrosse community is very excited that the teams from Kahnawake and Vaudreuil will be back in Akwesasne” said Mike Benedict Sr.
The QSLL is the Sr. “B” league of the Quebec Lacrosse Federation; Pierre Fillion is the current President and is a strong supporter of the Iroquois Lacrosse Association. President Fillion said “the Québec Lacrosse federation is very happy to see that both the QSLL and TNSL have come to an agreement. The 2009 interlocking project which will take place this summer will be a very positive step towards the full member status which the ILA is seeking. The QLF supports the ILA in its quest for full member status at the National level”. President Pierre Fillion finished by saying “this will certainly lead to great lacrosse games”.
The new agreement will see the Three Nations Senior Lacrosse teams in action against the Quebec Senior teams in a home and away series. The current teams operating under the Quebec Lacrosse League are the Vaudreuil Dynomites under the lead of Akwesasne lacrosse legend Mac Thomas. The Dynomites have a strong team from a mixture of Akwesasne talent and former Jr. “A” players from the Ottawa area.
Also representing the Quebec Senior Lacrosse League are the Caughnawaga Indians. The Caughnawaga Indians are in their second year of operation in the Quebec loop; under the direction of Head Coach Eric “Dirt” McCumber.
The Caughnawaga Indians General Manager Pat Lavigne expressed his happiness for the interlocking agreement “we are most grateful to the TNSL and the ILA to accommodate the Quebec Senior Lacrosse league who found itself reduced to 3 teams in 2009 with Sherbrooke’s resignation”. He further added “I see this working agreement as a step in the right direction for both leagues to diversify and to work in partnership towards the same goal. We expect a great rivalry between the Akwesasne and the Kahnawake teams and a fantastic summer for the fans” said Lavigne.
The third entry of the Quebec Lacrosse League is the Kahnawake Mohawks, last year’s league champions and bronze medal winners of the President Cup Championship. The Kahnawake Mohawks are under the direction of long time coach Barry Alfred. The Kahnawake Mohawks General manager Al Diabo is excited to see the new development, “the agreement between the TNSL and QSLL was a necessity to keep both leagues thriving, the three QSLL teams are made up of mostly Onkwehonwe (First Nations) players and the old rivalry between Kahnawake and Akwesasne will be renewed” said Al Diabo.
The first interlocking game will take to action as early as next week on Wednesday April 22, when the Kahnawake Mohawks visit the Akwesasne Thunderbirds at the Massena Arena. When asked what is expected in this first senior “B” interlocking game, Mohawks General Manager Al Diabo added “all teams from what I’m hearing are pretty evenly matched, so anything is possible on any given night”.
Also new to the 2009 senior “B” lacrosse is the increase of the goal net sizes as the Canadian Lacrosse Association has implemented the regulations of an additional six inches in the width of the nets, similar to the Major Series Lacrosse.
All Three Nations Senior Lacrosse regular season games will have an admission cost of $5.00 with children under the age of twelve free in the accompaniment of an adult. The TNSL will have a regular season schedule with a total of 48 games which includes 24 of those games as interlocking with the Quebec Senior Lacrosse League.
Outdoor lacrosse game a huge success
Greg Horn (www.kahnawakenews.com) - 4/16/2009
More than 400 lacrosse fans showed up at the Town Rink this past Wednesday night to watch a preseason exhibition game between the Senior B Caughnawaga Indians and the Junior B Kahnawake Hunters. The game served as a tune-up game for both teams and was also a fundraising event for Kahnawake Minor Lacrosse.
“It looks like everyone’s having fun, no one’s taking it too serious,” Hunters head coach Kevin Biggs told KahnawakeNews.com during the first intermission. “No one’s hacking or wacking. We’re just using this as conditioning instead of a practice. Getting hit and running is a lot better and the kids like it a lot better instead of having to run and not handling the ball and getting yelled at at practice. At least here the can go out and have some fun.
“For the Indians, it’s good for them because they pick and roll and stuff a lot of our kids haven’t seen much of before so it will help them a lot playing this game,” Biggs said.
The young legs of the Kahnawake Hunters gave the Indians a run for their money and played a very competitive and entertaining game. The Hunters even scored the first goal of the game. However, the experience of the Indians prevailed and they downed the Hunters by a score of 9-6.
“I thought the game was fantastic,” Aaron Kirby of Kahnawake Minor Lacrosse said. “It was very encouraging to see how many people came out to see the game.”
Kirby said that this game helped some of the players realize how hard they need to work to prepare for the season and how important practice is.
“The skill of the older guys’ sticks really showed them what they are going to be in for the 2009 season,” Kirby said.
The event raised over $1,000 for Kahnawake Minor Lacrosse through a half-and-half raffle, coffee sale and various donations. Also on sale during the game were raffle tickets for game four of the Boston/Montreal Eastern Conference Quarter Final series, which when it is sold out will raise $5,000 for minor lacrosse. Tickets are still available and cost $50 and only 100 are being sold. To purchase tickets contact Nadine Montour at 514-912-7291.
The Hunters kick off their inaugural season on Saturday, April 18th against the Cornwall Celtics at the A’nowara’kó:wa Arena in Akwesasne.
GregH@kahnawakenews.com