Ava Gabriel’s five goals propels Haudenosaunee Women to their first ever victory at the Box Lacrosse World Championship
Ava Gabriel scored 5 goals to lead the Haudenosaunee Women over England
Photo by David Tiger-Cortes
UTICA – The Haudenosaunee Nationals Women’s Box Lacrosse team secured their first win in program history as they defeated England 15-6 in pool play at the Utica University Nexus Center. The Haudenosaunee offense got goals from nine different players led by Ava Gabriel with five goals. Timmia Bomberry added two goals and an assist, Trysten Burns two goals, and Ferrah Blackbird a goal and three assists. The defense was physical once again and backstopped by goalie Chelsea Gibson with 28 saves. The game was physical from start to finish and featured 52 penalty minutes between the two nations.
Chelsea Gibson got the win between the pipes finishing with 28 saves
Photo by David Tiger-Cortes
Haudenosaunee struck first as Ava Gabriel took a shovel pass from Ferrah Blackbird and spun in traffic to give the Nationals the early 1-0 lead. Blackbird followed with a goal of her own as she drove right and dove across the crease to beat the goalie on the left side to make it 2-0 at 11:12 of the first quarter. England answered as Lucy Ford buried a quick step down through traffic at 8:41. But, Tallis Tarbell responded nine seconds later as Mekwan Tulpin won the draw and pushed the ball up to Tarbell for her first goal of the game. An England penalty put Haudenosaunee a woman up and Trysten Burns took advantage as she took the swing pass from Blackbird and sniped one five hole to push the lead to 4-1 Haudenosaunee at 7:30 of the first. That’s how the quarter would end as Haudenosaunee killed a Jadie Burns cross checking penalty to head to the second quarter.
Timmia Bomberry finished with 2 goals and 1 assist
Photo by David Tiger-Cortes
Mekwan Tulpin scored 20-seconds into the quarter on an assist from Chelsie John to extend the lead to 5-1. Another England penalty led to a power play goal for Timmia Bomberry as Ferrah Blackbird spun in traffic and kicked it out to Bomberry for the step down for her first goal of the night at 11:06 of the second. England answered with two straight as Alex Drewe and Lucy Ford scored two minutes apart to cut the lead to 6-3 with 7:43 to play in the half. A few penalties scrambled the end of the half as Mekwan Tulpin took a 5-minute major for an illegal body check to go a woman down but Englan was called for slashing a minute later to make it 4-on-4. Ava Gabriel struck again as she scopped a rebound and fired a beautiful spinning backhand in traffic that went five hole for the 7-3 lead at 4:34 of the second. England was still on the power play and Leah Catton scored with just under three minutes to play followed by an even strength goal from Landra Lamplugh with 5-seconds remaining to cut the lead to 8-5 headed to halftime.
The defense was stifling once again
Photo by David Tiger-Cortes
Haudenosaunee jumped on the board early in the third as Lindsay John scored her first goal of the tournament in traffic 25-seconds into the half to make it 8-5. Ferrah Blackbird was called for holding to lead to an England power play goal from Alex Drewe to cut the lead to 8-6 at 12:53 of the third. But, the Haudenosaunee defense would tighten up and keep England off the board for the final 28-minutes of the game to help the offense end the game on 7-0 run. A Lindsay John penalty for slashing followed by a 4-minute slashing penalty on England put the game at 4-on4 once again. Then a Tarbell slashing penalty put England a woman up only for Ferrah Backbird to grab her own rebound and fire a no-look pass across the crease to a wide open Trysten Burns who buried it on the weakside for the shorthanded goal and the 9-6 lead with just over six minutes to play. Ava Gabriel followed with her hat trick as she dug out a ball in the corner and moved to the top to snipe one home at 4:32 of the third. Another Haudenosaunee slashing penalty on Amalee Jacobs was killed to end the third quarter.
Haudenosaunee moves to 1-1 in pool play
Photo by David Tiger-Cortes
Haudenosaunee pulled away in the fourth as Carey-Leigh Vyse went driving left and missed a shot but Gabriel grabbed the rebound in the front of the net and beat the goalie for her fourth of the night at 14:34. The fourth was filled with more penalties as Fawn Porter and Bineh Garrow took slashing penalties simultaneously but England was called for tripping to make it 4-on-3. That led to a shorthanded snipe from Carey-Leigh Vyse off another Blackbird assist to extend the lead to 12-6 with just over 10 minutes to play. Another England penalty put the game at even strength and Ava Gabriel finished her monster game going top corner for her fifth of the game at 9:31. More England penalties led a penalty shot as England had three players in the box. Timia Bomberry took the penlty shot as she strolled in one-on-one and used several fakes to score top left corner and make it 14-6 with just under eight minutes to play. Fawn Porter rounded out the scoring as she took the bal in transition and buried one top shelf at 5:19 of the final frame to secure the 15-6 Haudenosaunee victory. The win moves Haudenosaunee to 1-1 in pool play.
Up Next: Haudenosaunee will face Hong Kong on Monday, September 23 at 3:15 p.m. EST at the Utica University Nexus Center Box 3. We’ll have all of your postgame coverage.
