Rivermen extend win streak to nine

The Six Nations Rivermen continue to rack up Ws. The Rivermen improved their mark to a perfect 9-0 on Sunday afternoon thanks to an 12-7 Ontario Series Lacrosse road victory against the host Clearview Crushers. Six Nations led throughout the match, which was held at the Stayner Arena.

The Rivermen held a slim 4-3 lead after the opening 20 minutes of action and took a 9-6 advantage into the final period. The Rivermen then sealed the deal in the third as Travis Longboat scored three goals while the expansion Crushers, who saw their mark fall to 2-9, managed to add just one more marker to their total. Longboat had four assists earlier in the match to end up with a seven-point performance.

“We played okay,” said Rivermen head coach Darcy Powless. “It was a slower paced game than we usually play.” Though the Six Nations side did not display its usual high tempo, Powless was pleased his charges were able to maintain their cool. “We showed a lot of discipline this game,” he said. “Their guys were chippy. They were trying to draw us into penalties. But we stayed smart and walked away.”

The Rivermen were assessed nine minor penalties in the match. But the Crushers had three players and their head coach ejected from the contest. The Clearview side ended up with 76 penalty minutes. Powless was not happy though with the number of goals his side yielded while they were a man short. 

“We gave up four powerplay goals,” he said. “We can’t do that versus any team.”

The Rivermen ended up taking three of their goalies on the road trip. Lucas Nagy was handed the starting assignment and performed admirably in securing the win. Powless said he was also impressed with the efforts of Crushers’ goalie Jake Lazore at the other end.

Meanwhile, another Rivermen goaltender, Dylan Sprentz, suited up as a runner in the contest. “He did okay,” Powless said. “(Assistant coach) Vince (Longboat) talked to him the whole game. He was nervous to start but he enjoyed playing out.” 

Besides Longboat, Vern Hill also netted a hat trick for the Rivermen. Marshall Powless added a pair of goals for the Six Nations squad while singles were provided by Rodd Squire, Jordan Goddard, Jeremy Bomberry and Wake:Riat BowHunter. 

The Rivermen return to action on Friday when they host the Oakville Rock. That match, which will be staged at the Six Nations Sports and Cultural Centre, has an opening faceoff set for 8 p.m. Six Nations will also hit the road the following night to square off against the Ennismore James Gang.