No team wants to go into their opposition’s arena down 0-3 in a series. Unfortunately for the Capital Region Axemen, that’s the situation they’re facing when they head to Kahnawake on Saturday night for game 4 of the Quebec Senior Lacrosse League (QSLL) finals after losing game three to the Kahnawake Mohawks 10-9.
After dominating the rest of the competition throughout the majority of the QSLL season, this is certainly not a spot the Axemen thought they’d be in at this point of the year. Kahnawake obviously had other ideas when they rolled into Ottawa for game one, and have kept that momentum going throughout this series.
They say lacrosse is a game of runs. No where was that more evident than game three of the QSLL finals. The game looked to be going in the Axemen’s favour early on, going up 3-1 halfway through the first period. They would get themselves into some penalty trouble later on though, and the Mohawks would go into the first intermission up 4-3.
However, the Axemen would then put away 5 unanswered goals, taking a commanding 9-4 lead midway through the second period. #89 Fred Hartley of the Axemen led the team with 5 points (2 goals, 3 assists) including an incredible cross-body quick stick off a rebound from the back wall that brought the crowd to their feet. #67 Ryan Fournier would also chip-in 4 points of his own (1 goal, 3 assists).
Kahnawake, to their credit, did not panic and would continue to press.
The Mohawks would go on to score 6 unanswered goals to finish the game, culminating in a diving cross-crease goal from #21 Kirby Joe Diabo with twenty seconds left in the game that would seal the Axemen’s fate.
Backstopped by an always solid #55 Angus Goodleaf, the Mohawks were able to put together a run that had the Axemen on their heels for the latter part of the game, that they were never able to recover from. #15 Kasey Beirnes led the charge with 5 assists, with another 5 points (2 goals, 3 assists) coming from #61 Pat Saunders and 4 points (2 goals, 2 assists) from Mohawk veteran #18 Peter Jacobs.
Game three of the QSLL was one of the closest and most exciting games of the season, and matchups between these two teams never seem to disappoint.
Unfortunately, the Axemen are now on the brink of elimination will need to give it everything they’ve got in game four.
Game four of the QSLL finals is Saturday, August 13, in Kahnawake.