Ontario champs Elora Mohawks heading to Founders Cup
KAHNAWAKE – It only took three games for the Elora Mohawks to beat out the Kahnawake Hunters to become the Ontario Junior B lacrosse champions.
And that’s more or less how the entire playoff run went for the team.
“We actually went undefeated, 12 and 0, in the playoffs,” said Mohawks general manager Kyle Goss.
Elora swept Guelph, Cambridge and St. Catharines in rounds one, two and three, respectively, before going on to face the Hunters in the final round.
The best-out-of-five series ended early on Aug. 9 with a 15-6 win in game three in Kahnawake to complete the playoff sweep.
“I do believe it’s not something that happens every day,” Goss told the Advertiser, but he said it may not be unheard of for the Mohawks to sweep the playoffs.
The team will now represent Ontario at the Founders Cup, taking place from Aug. 19 to 25 at the Dave Andreychuk Mountain Arena in Hamilton.
Goss attributed some of the team’s success to its roster, which included a lot of veteran players. The team finished its regular season in second place, “so we did pretty well,” he said.
The challenge at the national tournament will be facing off against teams from across Canada, who are less familiar, Goss said, adding “it’s hard to predict” how the games will go.
“You can’t really prepare for it other than the way you’ve been doing it all year,” he said.
“We’re just hoping that the skill that’s got us here and the hard work that got us here will continue to take us in the right direction.”
Elora plays its first game of the tournament on Aug. 20 against Alberta’s Mountainview Mavericks.
For the schedule and more information, visit founderscup.lacrosse.ca.
