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

SIX NATIONS OF THE GRAND RIVER – The Six Nations Chiefs bounced back to defeat the Victoria Shamrocks 10-4 in game two of the 2024 Mann Cup at the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena. Lyle Thompson led the way once again as he finished with another hat trick. Eli McLaughlin responded with a hat trick of his own, setting the offensive  tone early for the Chiefs. Six Nations also got a goal each from Shayne Jackson, Randy Staats, Dhane Smith, and Larson Sundown. Warren Hill earned player of the game honors as he backstopped a stingy defense with 43 saves between the pipes. Cole Pickup led the Shamrocks with two goals on the night.

Eli McLaughlin arrived early as he used a stutter step dodge to spin his defender around and find space for his first goal of the series just over a minute into the game. McLaughlin followed four minutes later on another unassisted goal as he stepped right into a shot on the right side and make it 2-0 Six Nations five minutes into the game. An illegal cross checking penalty on the Shamrocks helped Randy Staats on the power play as he skipped a pass through the defense to find Shayne Jackson open on the backside with an open net and give the Chiefs a 3-0 lead with nearly 12 minutes gone in the period. The Shamrocks would respond though as the Chiefs found themselves in the penalty box as well, something that plagued them in game one. A Bryan Cole slashing penalty in a face off scrum ended with a power play goal by Mathieu Gautier off a slick behind the back from Jesse King. Another slashing penalty, this time on Steve Priolo, followed by offsetting roughing penalties on Cody Jamieson and Bennet Smith led to a four on three advantage for Victoria with twelve seconds left in the period. The Shamrocks took advantage as Jesse King used a back screen to find Marshal King on the doorstep and cut the Chiefs lead to 3-2 with a second left in the period.  

The Chiefs struck first in the second as Lyle Thompson moved off a Randy Staats screen to create space up top and bury it five hole to make it 4-2 less than three minutes into the period. Victoria answered as Chris Wardle dropped a behind the back dime to Cole Pickup in front of the net who beat Warren Hill one-on-one to cut into the lead. A nice kick save by Warren Hill started the Chiefs in transition as the ball found Lyle Thompson off the bench and Thompson strolled in rhythm to a step down shot passed the goalie. Randy Staats joined the scoring as he worked off a Lyle Thompson screen and used an over the top jump shot to make it 6-3 Chiefs with just under ten minutes remaining in the period. The Six Nations defense was swarming all period and then got involved in the offense as Steve Priolo found Dhane Smith on the long outlet and Smith sprinted to bury his first goal of the series on the breakaway to extend the lead to 7-3 Chiefs and cause a goalie change from Victoria as Cam Dunkerley entered the game to close out the second period.

Lyle Thompson stayed hot as he used a swim move to lose his defender and pulled up from the deep left side to skip one home and make it 8-3 Chiefs  two minutes into the third period. Victoria answered a minute later as Cole Pickup was found in transition and beat Hill on the breakaway to cut the lead to 8-4 Six Nations. Eli McLaughlin responded with his hat trick as Randy Staats swung the ball to the wing and McLaughlin bobbled the ball driving to the net but somehow flung the ball in the air and caught it himself to finish over Dunkerley and make it 9-4 with just over nine minutes gone in the final frame. Another Chiefs power play earned by Shayne Jackson as he was pulled down driving to the goal resulted in a Larson Sundown’s first goal of the series as Sundown rebounded a Cody Jamieson shot off the boards and flung it to the back of the net to extend the lead to 10-4 with just over five minutes remaining in the game. The game got chippy towards the end and some physicality near the benches resulted in a 5-on-3 advantage for Victoria. But, the Chiefs defense killed the penalty until a fight broke out between the Chiefs’ Nonkon Thompson and Shamrocks’ Max Wilson with about three minutes left kept the power play going for Victoria. The two were jawing and exchanging checks before dropping the gloves and squaring off near the Shamrocks bench. That would be the fireworks to end the show as Thompson ran off to the locker room pumping up the crowd and Six Nations walked off the floor with the 10-4 victory to even the series at 1-1.

Next Up: Game 3 is scheduled for 8 p.m. on Monday, September 9 at Iroquois Lacrosse Arena in Six Nations.   

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

Photo by David Tiger-Cortes

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.

Photo by David Tiger-Cortes

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. 

Photo by David Tiger-Cortes

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.

Photo by David Tiger-Cortes

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.