Indian Time - A Voice from the Eastern Door

The Akwesasne Junior B Indians won the second round of the Ontario Junior B Lacrosse League playoffs and are leading the third round two games to none in a best-of-five series.

Game three is slated for 8:30 p.m. July 31 in Oakville. Games four and five, if necessary, are on tap for Saturday, Aug. 1 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Aug. 2 at 2 p.m., each in Oakville, according to the OJBLL website.

They clinched the second round three games to one.

Their loss was a forfeited game three due to using players that were not registered with the OJBLL, rendering them ineligible.

Indians Coach Adam Thompson blamed the shortage on not having "enough Mohawk men to step up to the plate and take responsibility of coaching an intermediate team," coupled with an oversight he blamed on "our organization."

"Our organization forgot to send in our AP intermediate list. Over the years, the AP list has been the Junior Indians first call-ups," Thompson said. "This year, those players have helped us in so many ways but we can't use them the rest of the year since they're not registered. So we call up from the Junior C Celtics, which is our other affiliate."

Thompson did not respond to a request for clarification and additional comment.

In the last game of the series against Halton Hills, the Indians sent the team back to Georgetown with a 15-10 loss.

The game opened with the teams trading goals, ending the opening stanza with a 5-5 tie. Akwesasne went on to dominate the second period offense, outscoring their opponents 6-2 in the second period and 4-3 in the third.

Offensive leaders for Akwesasne included Skkylar Thomas and Seth Oakes (three goals, two assists apiece), Blaze Riorden (four goals), Kaheriios Montour (five assists) and Russ Oakes (six assists). Skye Sunday came through with three helpers. Akwi David had a goal and two assists. Jarrett Pitt and Dalton Roundpoint each recorded a goal and an assist. Netminder Sam Verville denied 34 shots and assisted on one play.

On Saturday and Sunday, July 25 and 26, the Indians clinched the first two games of their series against the Oakville Buzz.

In game one at Anowarakowa Arena, the Akwesasne contingent fashioned a 12-7 victory. They lead 5-3 after the first period, shutout Oakville 3-0 in the middle stanza with the teams tying 4-all in the closing frame.

#66 Seth Oakes going in for another goal.

Seth Oakes notched a game-high three goals and four helpers. Russ Oakes had a pair of goals and three assists. Skkylar Thomas scored once, assisting on three plays. Blaze Riorden scored two goals with a single assist. Derek Lister had three assists. Jarrett Pitt and Skye Sunday each scored twice. Matt Bourassa, Zach Hopps, Dalston Day and Sam Verville all tallied single helpers. Verville also turned aside 42 shots on goal.

The following night at the Buzz home turf, Arthur Recreation Complex, the Indians returned home with a 19-7 win.

They jumped out to an early 5-2 lead before outscoring 5-4 in period two and 9-1 in the final stanza.

Skye Sunday tallied the game high, three goals and five assists. Skkylar Thomas had a goal and five helpers. Seth Oakes put five goals on the board. Russ Oakes had three goals and two assists. Akwi David and Blaze Riorden each had two goals and five assists. Dalston Day logged a goal and four helpers. Matt Bourassa had a goal and two assists while Adam Bomberry had three assists. Kason Tarbell scored once. Chad George, Kaheriios Montour and Oakley Thomas all assisted single plays.