The Akwesasne Indians are continuing their powerhouse showing in the Ontario Lacrosse League Junior B playoffs, having defeated their round two opponents the Halton Hills Bulldogs in the first two games of a best-of-five series.

Game One

Akwesasne opened the series with a bang, taking the Bulldogs down 10 – 6 after three periods of play.

The Indians’ offense was strong from the start, managing a 5 – 2 advantage over their opponents at the close of period number one. Akwesasne’s offensive endeavors were a true team effort – the 10 goals were scored by 10 different players; the same was true with assists, except for Adam Bomberry who aided his teammates scoring efforts three times and Hank Delisle did the same twice.

The Bulldogs stepped up their defense in the second stanza, holding the Akwesasne contingent to two goals, but the Indians responded in kind – they held Halton Hills scoreless for the 20-minute frame, despite three powerplay opportunities.

The Bulldogs showed they still had some fight in them as the final period went on, sliding four shots past Akwesasne netminder Sam Verville, but the Indians answered with three goals of their own.

Although the victory was by four goals, Akwesasne fired in 48 shots on goal compared to Halton Hills’ 47.

“[Akwesasne] played hard tonight. They won a lot of loose balls and a lot of battles and that was the difference in the game today,” said Bulldogs Coach Blaine McCauley, who added that his team may have secured the win had the “offense clicked a little better.”

“We have a lot of respect for Akwesasne and we knew this was going to be a tough series … we have to be ready to play…,” the Halton Hills leader stated.

Akwesasne Coach Garrett Cree said he feels his team being fleet-of-foot granted them the evening’s top spot. “We played our style … we outran them,” Cree observed. “It’s a running sport and whoever is willing to work hard is going to win.”

Cree added that in their next contest, he hopes to see his men incur fewer penalties. They were cited eight times for a total of 16 minutes, compared to the Bulldogs’ four infractions for a total of eight minutes.

Game Two

The game was a tense, back-and-forth affair where neither team could eke out more than a one-goal lead, but in the end Akwesasne walked away with the day’s win.

The first stanza was scoreless until 9:15, when Halton Hills’ Luke Laidlaw opened scoring by slipping a short-handed goal past Akwesasne’s Sam Verville. The Indians’ Oakley Thomas promptly answered 17 seconds later, with a hand from squadmate Teilan Celentano. With five minutes to go in the first period, Laidlaw scored his second and final goal of the contest, also short-handed, assisted by Sean Connors. But Akwesasne’s Kyle Lewis refused to go to the dressing room with his team in the red, scoring with 3:40 remaining assisted by Nick Angus and Hank Delisle.

The second period opened with the Bulldogs’ Connor Brown scoring after only 48 seconds of play, assisted by Seth Laidlaw and Michael MacDonald.

Hank Delisle pushed the Indians ahead to a 4 -3 lead to end the second frame, firing two consecutive shots into the Halton Hills net at 8:04 and 18:54, the latter during a two-minute Bulldogs penalty against Theo Dol for slashing.

The third period continued with the back-and-forth exchange over a four-and-a-half-minute slice of time, with Halton Hills scoring the opening goal in the first seven seconds unassisted, which Akwesasne’s Korin Sunday answered at 2:52. Tyler Nieuwendyk of the Bulldogs then tied the game at the 4:31 mark.

Ky Tarbell of the Akwesasne squad eyes teammate Kyle Lewis for a pass during the second period of Saturday’s round two Ontario Lacrosse League playoff contest.

The game remained scoreless for a tense five minutes, which was broken by the Indians’ Cody Kilcoyne firing the game-winning goal unassisted at 9:46.

The series continues with game three at Halton Hills on Friday, July 19 at 8 p.m. at Alcott Arena. If the Bulldogs can take advantage of playing their home turf, games four and five are set for Saturday and Sunday at 8 p.m., Alcott Arena.