June 24th, 2017 Axemen vs. Mohawks
By: Adam D’Agostino
Not leading the QSLL is a spot mostly unfamiliar to The Capital Region Axemen, however its where they found themselves heading into the matchup versus the Kahnawake Mohawks. Despite their short bench, the team was confident in their ability to come out of the evening with a win, and move into a tie with the Mohawks for top spot in the QSLL.
Considering the firepower that both teams possess, the first period ended up being a bigger battle of defensive prowess, rather than the shootout that might have been expected. The Axemen were able to open the scoring close to midway through the period though, off a powerplay goal from #9 Jordan Joncas. However, the Mohawks were able to counter fairly quickly to tie it up with a powerplay goal of their own shortly after. The Axemen then took an undisciplined too-many men penalty, and Kahnawake was able to capitalise and pull ahead, closing out the first period with a 2-1 lead.
The second period brought more of what was expected from both teams, however the Mohawks were able to widen their lead to three after 40 minutes of play. Kahnawake was able to capitalize on a few instances of miscommunication on defense from the Axemen, and managed to pot six goals in the frame. The Axemen were able to remain in the hunt, however, with some strong play from the offensive corps, especially from leading scorer #92 Mark Vradenburg, who scored a PP goal of his own in the second period, and set up another a minute later with a nifty behind the back feed down low.
Allthough the Axemen upped the pressure with goals from Woods and Hartley in the third, they were not able to match the earlier offensive outburst of the Mohawks. The final buzzer sounded with Kahnawake winning the matchup 9-7, and retaining their spot atop the QSLL standings.
The Axemen will continue to be in tough for their next game, against the Tyendinaga Thunderbirds. The T-birds are looking to make a run at the President’s Cup this year, having recently acquired the rights to NLL’ers Mark Matthews and Shayne Jackson, not to mention having former Axemen and QSLL leading scorer Tim Bergin on the roster.
This loss drops the Axemen to 5-2-1 on the season. Their next home game at Howard Darwin Memorial Arena is Saturday, July 15th, 2017