Over the next nine days, we will be looking at the top nine stories of the year in lacrosse, based off of our most read and covered stories. Today is #6with a look at the Six Nations Chiefs Mann Cup victory.
The past decade plus has seen two Ontario teams in the Mann Cup; the Peterborough Lakers and the Brampton Excelsiors. The Chiefs defeated the Brooklin Redmen to advance to the Mann Cup in British Columbia after being the top team in the league all season.
The last time a non Excelsiors/Lakers team was in the Mann Cup was 2000 when it was the Redmen, and 2004 saw the Victoria Shamrocks top the Lakers for the last time one of those teams DIDN’T win the historic trophy.
The Chiefs opened the playoffs with a sweep of the Kitchener-Waterloo Kodiaks before they topped the Redmen in six games and moved on to the Mann Cup to face the Shamrocks.The Mann Cup was taken by the Chiefs in six games with Six Nations winning the last three, all in Victoria. This was their first championship since 1996, where they had been a dynasty with three Mann Cups in the 1990s.
Led by Cody Jamieson’s 29 points, the Chiefs were a scoring power house in British Columbia for the tournament. Colin Doyle also contributed 18 points and Stephen Keogh 13 while Alex Kedoh Hill and Kasey Biernes had 11 each.
The moment of the tournament could have been in game five when Colin Doyle stepped in net for the Chiefs when both Brandon Miller and Evan Kirk were ejected. Doyle played 11 minutes and led Six Nations to victory with six saves and three goals allowed.
Any championships are obviously worthy of a top moment in 2013, but the Chiefs bring the special underdog element and the potential transition of power in Major Series Lacrosse and the entire Canadian lacrosse landscape.
