Indian Time - A Voice from the Eastern Door

The Akwesasne Jr. A Indians managed 13 goals over their weekend trip. Unfortunately, only one of them came on Saturday night in St. Catharines.

The Indians followed a brutal 7 -1 loss to the Athletics Saturday night with a gutsy 12-10 win in Brampton against the Excelsiors on Sunday afternoon.

The team now finds itself third in the league behind two undefeated teams, the Six Nations Arrows Express and the Orangeville Northmen.

Akwesasne’s own undefeated streak was snapped at 6 games.

Although the team wasn’t making excuses, a long bus ride and late meal may have caused some tired legs against the Athletics. “We played their game, not ours,” said assistant coach Danny Oakes, “we’re a better team than that.”

The lone goal was scored by Jerome Thompson.

With just a few hours to recover before the Brantford game, the team knew they would need a better effort. The team responded though despite getting behind early and came out with a much needed two points. General Manager Don Moore breathed a sigh of relief afterwards, “that’s better…that’s more like this team.”

Some of the more defensive-minded players chipped in as Scott Cowie and Cody Jacobs each had goals. Jerome Thompson and Kyle Buchanan set the tone offensively again as they combined for 9 points. Buchanan’s lone goal didn’t come until his 12th shot but it was the one that mattered as it proved to be the game winner with less than 3 minutes to play.

Jeremy Thompson, Miles Thompson, James Cathers, Peter Jacobs and Trent Thomas had the other goals in what was an extremely balanced attack for the Indians.

After the Saturday loss, the team bus was eerily quite and the consensus was adjustments needed to be made. “It’s better to lose now than in the playoffs. We lose now, we learn from it and next time we play them they will see a different team,” added Oakes. “We have a lot of talent and we won’t let this set us back.”

The Indians are back home this weekend at the Turtle with a 7:00 p.m. game Saturday night vs. Orillia followed by a 4:00 p.m. matinee vs. Mississauga.