Snipers conclude regular season with a victory over Shockwave

For the second time in as many days the Six Nations Snipers found themselves in a need of a rally. But the Snipers didn’t have to wait quite as long for Sunday’s comeback. And they didn’t require any overtime either to register another victory.

The Six Nations club found itself down 3-0 within the first four minutes against the visiting St. Catharines Shockwave on Sunday afternoon in an Arena Lacrosse League (ALL) match held at the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena (ILA) in Hagersville. It didn’t take long for the Snipers to catch up though and take the lead en route to a 17-13 victory.

One day earlier Six Nations found itself trailing by five goals, 15-10, in the fourth quarter against the host Toronto Monarchs. The Snipers rallied to deadlock the score at 15-15, forcing an OT session, which Six Nations won by scoring in the opening minute of extra time.

Sunday’s victory was the sixth straight for the Snipers, who finished off their regular season with a 10-2 record, good for top spot in their seven-team league. With the loss, the Shockwave ended off its regular season campaign with a mark of 4-8.

“St. Catharines had nothing to lose,” said Snipers’ head coach Darcy Powless. “They were out there playing pretty hard.”

The Six Nations squad entered this past weekend knowing it had already clinched first place in the regular season standings. That allowed Powless to tinker with his lineup quite a bit, allowing some key players to sit out and rest up for the playoffs.

“Saturday’s game was a bit of a wakeup call,” Powless said. “We were a little more prepared (on Sunday) knowing teams aren’t just going to roll over and let us pound on them.”

The Snipers and Shockwave were tied at 5-5 after the opening quarter. But Six Nations then outscored St. Catharines 5-1 in the ensuring 15 minutes to take a 10-6 lead at halftime. The two clubs then traded an equal amount of goals in both the third (four goals each) and final quarter (three apiece). The Shockwave made things interesting by cutting the deficit to one goal, 14-13, in the fourth quarter, but the Snipers managed to give themselves a bit of a cushion again scoring the final three goals of the match.

Johnny Powless led the Snipers’ offence by registering a seven-point game (four goals and three assists). Chayton King also had a strong outing, scoring three goals and earning a pair of assists. Jeremy Bomberry, Tyler Brown and Ross Hill added two goals each for the Snipers. And providing singles for the Six Nations side were Jordan Goddard, Daylen Hill, Gavin Skye and Rodd Squire.

Both the Snipers and the Whitby Steelhawks, who finished second in the standings with an 8-4 record, will now receive opening-round playoff byes. Both teams advance directly to the ALL semi-finals on April 16. The Snipers will host both semi-final matches as well as the championship final on April 17.