SIX NATIONS OF THE GRAND RIVER – The Six Nations Chiefs dropped game one by a score of 9-8 in the 2024 Mann Cup at the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena. Marshal King of the Victoria Shamrocks led the game with six goals on the night to help the visitors claim a hard fought victory. The Chiefs offense was led by Lyle Thompson who finished with four goals and two assists. Travis Longboat added two goals and two assists for the Chiefs and Doug Jamieson finished with 42 saves between the pipes despite the loss. Shamrocks goalie Chris Origlieri played tough and finished with 39 saves as Victoria held on down the stretch.

The Victoria Shamrocks struck first as a Kellen LeClair illegal cross check gave the Shamrocks the man advantage. Marshal King cut untouched down the middle on the power play to finish the pass from Mathieu Gautier and make it 1-0 seven minutes into the game. Less than a minute later Chris Wardle fired a shot low from the top of the arc and it trickled home to give Victoria an early 2-0. Six Nations would respond as Cody Jamieson ran fresh off the bench to a slip screen from Larson Sundown and buried his first goal top corner from the right side. But, Victoria responded fresh off the face off as Trent DiCicco won the draw and sprinted in transition to create the two on one with Nick Preston, who scored his lone goal of the game to make it 3-1 Shamrocks. The Chiefs would bounce back as Travis Longboat grinded out a couple of loose balls before he sent a pass to Jamieson on the right side and then cut middle for the give and go to bury the wide open shot to cut the lead to 3-2 with nine minutes left in the first period. A holding call on Victoria gave Six Nations the man advantage with three minutes left and Lyle Thompson took advantage just 15 seconds into the power play off a Dhane Smith screen to tie the game at 3-3 headed to the end of the period.

The Chiefs struck first in the second period on a deep step down shot from Shayne Jackson four minutes into quarter on an assist by Randy Staats to give Six Nations their first lead of the game. But, Marshal King went bonkers for the Shamrocks and went on a 4-0 run of his own to help Victoria take command of the game. The Chiefs couldn’t clear a rebound and King grabbed the ground ball and ripped one from deep to tie game at 4-4 with 15 minutes left to play in the second period. Three minutes later King would dodge off a pick and bury one over the shoulder of Doug Jamieson for his hat trick and the 5-4 Shamrock lead. The Shamrocks ramped up the pressure in the second period and had several chances before a holding penalty on Kellen LeClair helped King score his fourth goal of the game on an assist from his brother Jesse King. Another scramble ended with a Clarke Petterson groundball and eventually another goal from King who buried his fifth goal from the deep left side on an assist by Patrick Dodds to give Victoria the 7-4 lead headed to the final period.

Marshal King stayed hot to start the third as he finished from the top of the arc just 18 seconds into the final frame for the sock trick to extend the Shamrocks lead to 8-4. The Chiefs chipped away as Cody Jamieson drove middle to draw a holding penalty and gain the man advantage. On the power play, the two man game helped Lyle Thompson dish to Travis Longboat for his second of the game with less than three minutes gone in the third period. Lyle struck again moving left to right across the zone off a few stagger screens to find space and snipe one low to cut the Shamrocks lead to 8-6. A Jeremy Thompson slashing penalty put the Chiefs a man down and Jesse King scored from the top right to make it 9-6 Victoria. The Chiefs responded as Lyle Thompson slipped a screen and gathered a pass from Longboat to finish the sidearm shot from the left side with 10 minutes to go in the game. Just 25 seconds later Dhane Smith flipped a pass back to Thompson on the left wing and Lyle sniped one home from left wing to cut the lead to 9-8 Shamrocks. The teams continued to battle and Six Nations had some chances but Victoria goalie Chris Origlieri kept the Chiefs off the board for the remainder of the game. With less than a minute to go the Chiefs pulled goalie Doug Jamieson for the extra attacker. But, a missed shot by Shayne Jackson on the doorstep and an unfortunate slip and fall by Dhane Smith in transition ran out the clock with a game ending scrum in the corner. Victoria took a 1-0 series lead with the game one road victory.

Next Up: Game two is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Saturday, September 7th from the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena in Six Nations of the Grand River.

Six Nations Chiefs fall 9-8 to Victoria Shamrocks in Game One of 2024 Mann Cup

Six Nations responds to beat Victoria 10-4 in game two of the 2024 Mann Cup; Thompson and McLaughlin hat tricks and 43 saves from Hill lead the way