At the end of an almost 40-degree day in Ottawa, the Capital Region Axemen and the Kahnawake Mohawks kicked off the QSLL finals last night, both vying for a spot to compete for the 2016 President’s Cup in Leduc, Alberta.
The Mohawks were able to upset the regular-season champs by beating them for a second straight game, by a score of 9-7, and taking a 1-0 series lead.
In what has been the marquee matchup of the Quebec Senior Lacrosse League for the past couple of years, this season’s offering of the Axemen vs Mohawks league finals has yet to disappoint. Games between these teams have been tough all year; while the Axemen were able to come away victorious in almost all, the Mohawks were able to spoil the Axemen’s perfect season in their last matchup with one another.
With all due respect to the rest of the league, this was the matchup that everyone was expecting. The two most-talented and deepest teams in the QSLL all year squaring off in the finals.
Both teams had added firepower right before the deadline, both on and off the floor to give themselves the best change of taking the QSLL championship.
The Mohawks came out of the gate ready to prove that their last win against the Axemen wasn’t a fluke, flying out to 5 goal lead in the first period before the Axemen could stop the bleeding. The Axemen were not ready for such high-intensity pressure from the Mohawks early on, and could not recover from the hole that they dug themselves in in the 1st period.
#61 Pat Saunders proved to be the catalyst once again for the Mohawks. He was quietly able to put up 6 points (2 goals, 4 assists) to lead Kahnawake. #51 Emmit Printup & #18 Peter Jacobs of Kahnawake each contributed 3 points of their own as well (2 goals, 1 assist each). Kahnawake goaltender #55 Angus Goodleaf also played phenomenal, making more than one sprawling save to keep the Mohawks ahead.
For the Capital Region Axemen, #92 Mark Vradenburg was able to lead the charge with 4 points (2 goals, 2 assists). #71 Geoff McNulty & #77 Jacob Ruest pitched in with 3 points each too (3 assists, and 2 goals, 1 assist respectively).
The Mohawks were able to effectively limit two of the Axemen’s biggest scoring threats; #98 Callum Crawford and goaltender #1 Brett Perras. Perras has exceptional stick skills, and is the driving force behind the Axemen’s transition scoring. Kahnawake was able to limit the transition opportunities that Capital Region had and that definitely limited their quality scoring chances. As well, Crawford was held to just 2 assists on the evening.
While the Axemen were able to pull within one after scoring two back-to-back powerplay goals to start the third, they would not be able to equalize.
If this game was any indication of how the rest of the series is going to go, the fans are going to be in for some very exciting lacrosse.
The series now heads back to Kahnawake for game 2 on Sunday, August 7.