Indian Time - A Voice from the Eastern Door

The St. Regis Braves and Snake Island Muskies battled it out in a June 14 overtime thriller at Massena Arena that was decided by a single goal.

The Muskies then went on to a bout with Kahnawake, who walked away with the win.

In the hometown tilt, a three-goal St. Regis burst kicked off the game, and they would retire after the first period ahead by three. Zach Hopps sparked the Braves' offense just 58 seconds into the game after taking a pass from Jarrett Jacobs. Two more goals would follow in the next five minutes when Sam Bradman set up Lane Bennett and Jarrett Jacobs set up Brett Bucktooth. Jordan Thomas put Snake Island on the board at 6:56 with an assist from Lee Thomas. The teams went on to trade goals for the remainder of the period. Bennett connected for a second time at 9:47, followed by Dwight Bero just 17 seconds later with respective assists going to Sam Bradman and Lukas Baldion. Skye Sunday (unassisted) and Tristan Thompson on a play set up by Ky Tarbell punched in two more for the Muskies at 13:02 and 13:56. St. Regis's Dan Lazore (Bradman assist) and Snake Island's Ryan Desveaux (unassisted) closed scoring for the frame.

Returning to the cement for the middle stanza, the teams traded three-goal rallies to leave the Braves ahead 10-7 after 40 minutes. The Braves' offensive trio came thanks to Dan Lazore, Bucktooth and Hopps between 4:27 and 7:07. Bennett assisted Lazore and Bucktooth. Bradman drew the helper on the Hopps marker. Grayson Phillips (Shane Francis assist), Tarbell (Akwi David assist) and Sunday (Shane Francis, Tarbell assists) punched in three for Snake Island between 12:12 and 14:39.

The Muskies came back for the third period and took over offensively. Skye Sunday and David scored at 8:03 and 10:17 to bring them to within one goal of a tie game, with respective helpers from Kobi Johnson and Tristan Thompson. St. Regis's Bucktooth widened their lead to two goals at 10:24 with an assist from Jarrett Jacobs. The Muskies' response, which would tie the game and force sudden death, came from David at 17:40 and Hati Lazore at 18:23, with each play set up by Sunday.

After 4:30 of stalemate in overtime, Brett Bucktooth got ahold of the ball and passed to Jarrett Jacobs, who fired in the game-winning goal.

The Braves' Bucktooth led all scorers with four goals and one assist. Bennett scored twice and assisted twice. Bradman assisted four plays. Jacobs scored once and assisted three times. Dan Lazore and Hopps each netted a pair of goals. Bero netted a singleton and Baldion tallied a solo helper. Netminder Torry Bigtree was credited a win.

For Snake Island, Sunday scored three times and assisted twice. David scored twice and assisted once. Tarbell had a single goal and a pair of assists. Thompson scored once and assisted once. Thomas, Phillips, Hati Lazore and Desveaux each scored once. Thomas assisted one play. Goaltender Kobi Johnson was stuck with the loss.

The following night at Bell Centennial Arena in Nepean, Ontario, Snake Island battled a close game against the Capital Region Axemen that ended in a 10-8 Ottawa win.

Aaron Forster got things going with three consecutive Axemen goals between 5:16 and 13:18. Tim Bergin, Jordan Joncas, Mark Vradenburg, Carter Bradour and Brett Perras all earned assists on the three plays. Thompson put the Muskies on the scoreboard before retiring for intermission, at a powerplay at 17:46 with helpers from Phillips and Francis.

Returning for the middle frame, Lee Thomas scored a second goal for Snake Island at 3:27 with an assist from Ahta Lazore. Connor Primeau answered for Ottawa at 6:52, with Dan Gawne and Pat Collins earning assists. Skye Sunday then tied the game, with two goals in a at 6:09 and 6:43, assisted by Lee Thomas and Wallace Thompson. Just nine seconds later, Vrandenburg pushed the Axemen back into the lead, assisted by Brandon Fournier and Kyle McFadyen. Two Snake Island goals in response would give the Muskies their first and only lead of the game. Lee Thomas tied the game unassisted at 12:32. At 14:29, Thomas would pass to Ahta Lazore to give them a one-goal lead, but that would be spoiled by three Axemen goals in a row off the sticks of Blake Kenny, Vradenburg and again Kenny between 15:34 and 18:21. Shane Francis fired in a final Snake Island second-period goal with just over a minute on the clock, assisted by Tristan Thompson. The third period saw Axemen goals from Spencer Corkery 55 seconds in and Forster at 17:40, sandwiched around a Muskies point from Ahta Lazore at 12:50.

Lee Thomas led the Muskies offense with two goals and two assists. Ahta Lazore scored twice and assisted once. Tristan Thompson and Francis each had a goal and an assist. Sunday scored twice. Phillips and Wallace Thompson each assisted one play. Johnson covered the net for a 20-save performance and was saddled with a loss.

Zach Hopps goes airborne as he reels a shot at the Muskies net and goalie Kobi Johnson.

For Ottawa, Forster scored a game-high four goals with one assist. Vradenburg scored twice and assisted once. Bergin tallied three helpers. Kenny scored twice. Corkery and Primeau netted singletons. Bradour, Joncas, Scott Taylor, Nevan Sullivan, Gawne, Fournier, McFadyen and Collins all fashioned single helpers. Goalkeeper Perras turned aside 18 shots and earned a win.

In other Three Nations/Quebec Senior B Lacrosse League Action:

• The Windsor Eagles beat the Kahnawake Mohawks 14-7 on June 15 at Centre J.A. Lamay in Windsor, Quebec. The Eagles' Frederick Verville scored three goals with three assists and Simon Windquist had one goal and five helpers. Kahnawake's Katsirakeron McComber tallied two goals and two assists.

• The June 16 game between the Mohawks and the Caughnawaga Indians in Kahnawake was canceled.