By Andy Gardner

The Bear's Den Mohawk Medicine Men squared off with the Seneca War Chiefs at home on Saturday, May 25 with the visiting team coming out with a 12-4 win.

Coach Kariwate Mitchell said their goalie, Keaton Johnson, had a stalwart performance between the pipes.

"I was really impressed with goaltender Keats Johnson, he played well enough to keep us in the game. He made some big stops early on and showed Seneca that their goals weren't going to come easy," Mitchell said in an email following the game.

He said despite a solid Akwesasne effort, he believes they were unable to keep up in the long run with the War Chiefs because of a shorthanded roster.

"On a positive note, even though we only had 12 runners, we were able to play with Seneca for more than half the game. It wasn't until the third period that they really pulled away from us and it was only because we were just too tired, it's really tough to play any game that shorthanded. Some of our guys had prior commitments that couldn't be avoided but hopefully we're fully staffed next time," Coach Mitchell said. "I think everyone of the guys that played that game, played strong, they made no excuses and never quit. Every one of them played hard until the game was done, I have to give them credit for that."

The War Chiefs rattled off three goals early in the first period. Montana Pierce, who also scored in the third period, put the Medicine Men on the board with less than a minute left in the stanza. Abe Garrow and Johnson picked up assists.

Seneca fashioned five goals in the middle frame, which included two more for the Medicine Men. Ohsenadekha Mitchell connected eight minutes in on a play set up by Sose George and Garrow. Fourty-eight seconds later, Cole Moore scored with an assist from Kiernan Lafaver. Pierce's goal in the closing period, where Seneca scored four times was with just over a minute left to play. Assists came from Justin Boots and Lafaver.

For the War Chiefs, Destin Montour had four goals and two assists. Cody Bitlec scored four goals with one assist. Heron Snow scored twice with five helpers. Ryan John (one assist) and Frank Wesaw picked up the other goals. Darren Mohawk tallied three assists. Dylan Snow, Dominic Demartino and Higaiyo John had solo assists.

Montana Pierce (87) and Cole Moore (67) try to strip the ball from the War Chiefs' Hoya John.

The Medicine Men will travel to Onondaga to play the Red Hawks on Saturday, June 1 at 7 p.m. They will return to their home turf at the St. Lawrence Centre to play Tyendinaga on Thursday, June 6 at 8 p.m.

In other First Nations Junior B Lacrosse League action:

• The Tyendinaga Thunder beat the Onondaga Red Hawks 15-5 on Saturday, May 25.

• Seneca bested Tyendinaga 18-7 on Sunday, May 26.