By Adam d’Agostino
Axeman come away from weekend with 2 dominant wins, move to 3-0 on the season
The Capital Region Axemen were able open up the month of June with two wins on back-to-back days, hosting the St. Regis Braves on Saturday, June 2nd, and the Windsor Eagles on Sunday, June 3rd.
Although the Axemen were heavy favourites going in to both games, both St. Regis and Windsor were undefeated as well to start the 2018 season, before making the trek to Ottawa.
On Saturday night against the Braves, fans were treated to a raucus affair that featured 7 major penalties and 6 misconducts between the Axemen and Braves.
The game started off with a big milestone for highly-touted rookie #24 Aaron Forster, son of Assistant Coach Jamie Forster. This was Aaron’s first Senior B game, and he managed to put one past the Braves goaltender on his very first shot on net. Aaron is coming off a solid Junior A career with the Toronto Beaches, and will look to be a steady contributor on offense this year. He ended up finishing the game with three goals and three assists, before getting tossed after a fight in the last ten minutes of the third period, to complete his Gordie Howe hat-trick. Surprisingly, it was also his first ever lacrosse fight. Not a bad Senior B debut for the rookie.
The remainder of the first period was very back-and-forth, with the St. Regis scoring twice to keep pace with Axemen in the first 10 minutes, before succumbing to penalty trouble and heading into the intermission down 5-2.
The second period was all Axemen, scoring 6 goals in the frame while allowing 0 goals against, despite some fast break chances from the Braves.
With the game all but lost for the Braves in the third, the game went from chippy to aggressive, with three of the St. Regis players getting ejected with misconducts.
In the end, the Capital Region Axemen would cruise to a 15-5 win.
Axemen forward #22 Blake Kenny had the Braves’ number the whole night. Kenny, who played for St. Regis last season, put up a hat-trick and five assists for a game high eight points. Captain #7 Raj Wasson put up five points (2,3), while #9 Jordan Joncas would come out with a hat-trick of his own.
It potentially would have been a different game had the Braves had two of their top players in the lineup; star forward Brett Bucktooth and goalie Jake Lazore, however they were unable to make the trip.
The matchup on Sunday night was much more relaxed, and the game had considerably better flow than the night before.
Axemen goalie #29 Chris Chuback got the call for this one, however he was forced out after injuring his knee making a diving save (on a hail mary shot from the Windsor goalie at the other). #1 Brett Perras had to step in to finish off the game. Both goalies played well in the win, however it was the Windsor goaltender #30 Alexandre Masse who stole the show in the second half of the game. Although he surrendered eight goals, the Axemen would have been up by considerably more had he not played as well as he did. Masse ended up with 23 saves on the night.
The Eagles put up a good fight, and gave the Axemen a scare with three third period goals, however they were no match for the Axemen’s depth, and could not keep up with the continued pressure from the Axemen defense or the passing and stickwork of the Axemen offense. Capital Region would also win this one by a score of 9-5.
Kenny led the team once again with a game-high 5 points (2,3), while #43 Tim Bergin and #92 Mark Vradenburg each got 4 points apiece.
The Axemen are definitely the team to beat in the QSLL/TNSLL right now. They are undefeated, boast the largest goal differential, have the league’s top scorer in Blake Kenny, and the two goalies with the lowest GAA.
Capital Region’s next scheduled home game is Friday, June 15th at Bell Centennial Arena versus the Snake Island Muskies.