Indian Time - A Voice from the Eastern Door

The St. Regis Braves finished in fourth place in the Canadian Lacrosse Association President’s Cup.

The Braves ended the series with a 5-4 record, tied with the Kahnawake Mohawks.

The St. Albert Miners narrowly edged the Six Nations Rivermen for the President’s Cup by a 7-6 final score.

The Braves’ fourth victory of the series was on Aug. 30 against the Nova Scotia Privateers, a 16-5 final score. The Braves scored the only goals they needed in the first 20 minutes, leading 8-2, then outscoring their opponents 6-3 and 2-0 in the following stanzas. Dwight Bero notched what held up as the game-winning goal, unassisted, with just under five minutes remaining in the first period. Ty Thompson (five goals), Haina Thompson (two goals, three assists) and Jordan Thomas (one goal, four assists) led the St. Regis offense. Angus Leborgne scored three goals with a helper. Shane Francis had two goals and an assist. Brett Bucktooth logged one goal and two assists. Jacob Ruest assisted three plays. Tye Terrance had a pair of helpers. Bero, and Kyle Lewis-Oakes netted singletons. Geoff McNulty and Hakta Garrow each tallied solo assists. Torrey Bigtree made seven saves and Jake Lazore made two.

The following day, the Braves lost 10-6 to the Six Nations Rivermen. They led 3-2 after the first period, but fell behind 6-4 after two frames and were outscored 4-2 in the closing period. Miles Thompson led the Braves with four goals. Haina Thompson had one goal and two assists. Geoff McNulty had two assists. Jacob Ruest had one goal. Brett Bucktooth, Adam Bomberry and Sam Bradman had single assists. Jake Lazore stood tall in the net with 36 saves.

The Braves recovered the next day and beat the Ladner Pioneers 12-2. Once again, St. Regis clinched their win in the first period where they outscored the Pioneers 4-2. They shut out the competition in the second period. The final frame was scoreless. Miles Thompson led the Braves offense with four goals and two assists. Jacob Ruest had one goal and four assists. Haina Thompson tallied one goal and three assists. Ty Thompson scored twice and assisted a play. Angus Leborgne had two goals and a helper. Jordan Thomas scored once and assisted once. Adam Bomberry and Shane Francis each notched a solo goal. Geoff McNulty and Donnie Moss had single assists. Jake Lazore turned aside 28 shots.

On Sept. 1, St. Regis dropped a 12-7 bout to the St. Albert Miners. The Miners managed a 7-5 lead after two periods and went on to outscore the Braves 5-2 in the third stanza. Miles Thompson (one goal, three assists), Jacob Ruest (one goal, three assists) and Geoff McNulty (three goals, one assist) led St. Regis’s offense. Blake Kenny had a goal and an assist. Haina Thompson and Kyle Lewis-Oakes each generated two assists. Ty Thompson scored one goal. Jake Lazore worked the crease for 31 saves.

St. Regis went on to play the CanAm Native Sons twice and lost each.

Their first meet-up was Sept. 2 in the final regular match of the series, where they lost 16-12. The Braves led 7-5 after the first period but trailed 11-9 after two and were outscored 5-3 in the third frame. Jacob Ruest (three goals, two assists) and Haina Thompson (five assists) led the Braves offense. Miles Thompson and Angus Leborgne each had two goals and two assists. Ty Thompson had a goal with two assists. Geoff McNulty had two goals and a helper. Sam Bradman netted a pair of goals. Shane Francis and Brett Bucktooth had two assists each. Mike Lazore and Matt Noble fashioned single assists. Tory Bigtree denied 14 scoring attempts and Jake Lazore made six saves.

In the final round the next day, St. Regis again met the Native Sons and this time lost 10-5. The teams were tied 3-3 going into the middle stanza. CanAm outscored the Braves 6-1 and the teams played to a 1-1 stalemate in the closing frame. Jacob Ruest was the top offensive player for St. Regis with one goal and three assists. Miles Thompson, Haina Thompson, Blake Kenny and Sam Bradman accounted for the other goals. Brett Bucktooth, John Jacobs, Mike Lazore and Derek Hopps assisted one play apiece. Trey Adams turned aside 39 shots.

On Sept. 5, Braves Coach Chuck Brown released the following statement on the team’s experience in the President’s Cup:

“We finished a disappointing fourth this season in Canada. By all accounts we achieved all but one of our goals and that one is all that matters from March to September. On behalf of our coaching staff we were all very honored to lead this great group of men into a chase for the cup. Every player that came through our doors made us all better all season long. Unfortunately we had some very talented players at home as we battled for the cup.

A special thanks goes out to everyone that helped us along the way. From game day staff to everyone that fund raised online and to Bonnie Square, Karen Hill and Jan Noble for holding us all together. Niawen to Bigboy for his help … pulling us out of a tight spot. Also to CKON s Dennis Chaussi for keeping our community informed and entertained. Also we ask that the community bear with us as we launch into our plans to bring the cup back from Naniamo, B.C. next season. Finally I would like to thank Duddy Lyons for all his outstanding work this season. He’s a tireless worker and has a good mind for this game. I appreciate everything everyone has done this year and I wish everyone the best.”