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Kedoh Hill had a hat trick to help Six Nations even the
Mann Cup with a 10-8 win. (Photo: Judy Teasdale)
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Kedoh Hill hadn't played a game
of lacrosse in over a month. The young Six Nations Chief's last
action was Game 3 of the Major Series Lacrosse semi-finals against
Kitchener-Waterloo on August 6. But when called on to play in Game 2
of the Mann Cup championship series Saturday night, Hill stepped up
big for the Chiefs, scoring a hat trick to help them win the game
10-8 and even the series 1-1.
“This morning, [Head Coach Rich
Kilgour] said be ready for anything,” Hill said. “I didn't
even think I was going to get a chance, really, but I knew that if
there was a chance that I might get to play I had to make the best of
it. When he told me I was in, I was like holy man. I was just
excited.”
Hill scored once in each period and
played a big role on the penalty kill. The PK was critical to the
Chiefs' success in winning last night because Victoria had 15 power
plays including at least half a dozen two-man advantages. The
referees had called just 11 penalties resulting in a total of seven
power plays in Game 1, but Saturday night the whistles were blowing
fast and furious. The refs called 29 infractions leading to 26 power
plays, including an astonishing number of 5-on-3's for a Mann Cup
game.
The game was tied 4-4 after the first
period and 6-6 after the second. The scoring generally followed a
pattern of Six Nations taking a one- or two-goal lead then Victoria
replying—the game was tied at 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 before the Shamrocks
finally took their first lead of the game on a Nolan Heavenor
power play goal at 7:38 of the third period.
Johnny Powless tied the game at
8 a couple of minutes later. The stage for the dramatic winning goal
was set when Cody Jamieson, who finished the game with 2 goals
and 3 assists, drove to the net and was checked into the crease. He
made contact with 'Rocks goalie Matt Vinc and was called for
goaltender interference (Heavenor had been tabbed for the same call
when he collided with Evan Kirk after scoring Victoria's
go-ahead goal).
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Nolan Heavenor and Cody Jamieson each took goalie
interference calls and each scored big goals.
(Photo: Judy Teasdale)
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Jamieson emerged from the penalty box
and just nine seconds later bounced a hard outside shot through
traffic past Vinc. Colin Doyle broke his two-game scoring
slump in the final minute, taking a pass from Kasey Beirnes
and ripping it home for an insurance goal.
Kilgour said both goals reflected the
scorer's tendencies. “[That was] kind of a tough call against
Jamieson. They were calling it tight all night. I don't think what I
saw and what the refs saw was the same thing, but they've got the
whistle and that's how you respond to taking maybe a questionable
penalty. Jammer came out and redeemed himself and that's what he
does. He's a money player.”
As for Doyle, the veteran star forward
had struggled in the first game but looked more like his usual self
in Game 2. When he buried his goal, he spread his arms and exulted.
“I think it's going to boost his confidence a lot,” Kilgour said.
“Doyle's a great player, we wouldn't be here without him. Maybe he
struggled a little bit, but that's going to happen to any great
player. But what he does is he keeps working. He doesn't drag people
down with him. He stays positive and he works hard. Whenever he has a
bad game or two, he just works hard to get out of it.”
Stephen Keogh and Roger Vyse
each added a goal and 3 assists for Six Nations. Jeff Shattler
led the Shamrocks with 3 goals and 3 assists while Rhys Duch
added 2 goals and 2 assists. The teams have Sunday off then will play
Games 3, 4 and 5 on consecutive nights starting Monday. All games are
at 7pm PT/10pm ET and can
be seen via live pay per view webcast.
You can read more about Game 2 and the
rest of the Mann Cup at IL Indoor
and the Mann Cup 2013 web site.
