Six Nations crush Axemen at Presidents Cup

The Six Nations Rivermen entered the win column again on Wednesday. And they did so in convincing fashion. The Rivermen, who had lost back-to-back games for the first time this season, rebounded by thumping the Capital Region Axemen 21-1 in round-robin action at the Presidents Cup, the national Senior B tournament being staged in Edmonton this week. With the victory, the Rivermen evened their record at 2-2-0 at the seven-team event, which concludes on Saturday. 

“We played a lot better,” Six Nations head coach Darcy Powless said of his charges’ performance on Wednesday. “Our guys were flying out there today.” 

The Rivermen led 4-0 after the opening 20 minutes against the Axemen. Six Nations then took complete control of the contest by scoring a whopping 11 more goals in the second period while yielding just one goal against. The Rivermen then kept the Capital Region squad, which competes in the Quebec Senior Lacrosse League even though it is based out of Nepean, Ont., off the scoreboard in the final period while scoring six more times themselves. 

“It was a complete game from everyone - a total turnaround from yesterday’s game,” Powless said. 

The Rivermen, with a rather lacklustre effort, were downed 17-10 by the Akwesasne Bucks on Tuesday. That setback came on the heels of a 9-6 loss versus the Ladner Pioneers on Monday. 

With Wednesday’s win, the Rivermen still control their own destiny at the national tourney. Six Nations will conclude the round-robin portion of the tournament by playing twice on Thursday. For starters, the Rivermen will square off against the Calgary Mountaineers in a contest scheduled for noon EST. If the Six Nations club manages to win that match it will guarantee itself a top four round-robin finish and earn a berth into Friday’s semi-finals. The Rivermen will also meet the host Miners Lacrosse Club on Thursday at 9 pm EST. 

Six Nations got goals from 13 different players against the Axemen. Scott Del Zotto and Wes Whitlow both had a hat trick. Travis Longboat, Marshall Powless, Aidan Buis and Jordan Goddard scored two goals apiece. Also scoring for the Rivermen were Tye Argent, Wake:Riat BowHunter, Tyler Brown, Rodd Squire, Brooker Muir, Kevin Owen Hill and Vern Hill. 

Dusty Hill was the Rivermen starter in goal and played the first two periods. Troy Holowchuk came in for the final period between the pipes for Six Nations and blanked the Axemen in his 20 minutes of action.