The Six Nations Arrows opened up their regular season at home during the annual Bread and Cheese game, which takes place on the Canadian holiday, Victoria Day. The Arrows took on the Perterbourgh Lakers, a team that Six Nations beat in the OLA playoffs last summer.
Before the first faceoff took place the 2014 championships banners were revealed, while some of the players that aged out of junior were honored. One of those honored was former defender Stu Martin, who held the Minto Cup.
Once the whistle blew for the game to start Haodais Maracle struck the first goal, after receiving the pass from Jordan Durston. The Lakers got on the board to tie it after Zach Bryant got a goal from Adam Kitchen.
Dallas John moved up from the Rebels after a stellar Junior B career and started his Junior A career off with a spectacular goal. John finished the game with three goals, two assists and he had back to back power play goals in the third. Kyle Killen ripped a nice goal for Peterbourgh in the first but after that, it was all Six Nations. The Arrows saw big games from Travis Longboat who was just playing Rebs this season he had four points while Austin Staats had five points and is a excellent lacrosse player. Maracle had four points, two of them were very nice goals while fellow NLL player Josh Johnson also scored two goals finishing with three points.
Greg (Sewi) Longboat Travis’s older brother had three points in transition. The defense was still missing some key players but had a familiar face back in Leo Stourus back off his season at Colgate University looked too make a huge impact again this summer.
New additions include Jamie Dilks, who has a older brother on the Edmonton Rush. Oakley Thomas who has made a name for himself at OCC and at the Worlds last summer is just as impressive as a box lacrosse player like he is in field. Thomas is big quick and a great stick he had some nice stick checks and knows what to do when the ball is in his stick.
Oakley is a great addition to this unit and is ready for junior A. Goalie Doug Jamieson made 38 saves.
I spoke with the Arrows GM Jake Henhawk to see his thoughts on the first game.
How did it feel to see the team back in action on the quest for another?
Felt great, it’s been a long wait since September we got back from BC. Felt good to get the win with a lot of key guys still away. Especially to see how some of the younger guys in the system have come along in a short period of time from camp to now is definitely a positive.
What are you looking for from some of your key returners?
We look for them to provide the leadership and experience that we have come to expect from the veterans that return from school every year. These are key players that come home from school and add another dimension to our attack and defense.
How do you think some of the new players fit in their roles with the team?
I think the younger players we have brought in along with some of the older
Players have fit in well. The returning players do an excellent job of making new players feel at home right away. Team chemistry is a big thing for us if we wish to have continued success championship.
