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Rebels to play for Founders Cup

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AKWESASNE The Six Nations Rebels are heading to the Founders Cup as Ontario champions.

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The Rebels earned a spot in the Canadian junior B lacrosse championship in Winnipeg, Aug 12-18, by defeating Akwesasne Indians 12-9 Wednesday night in Game 5 of their Ontario Lacrosse Association’s best-of-five junior B championship series. The game was played at the Indians’ A`nowara`ko:wa Arena.

Akwesasne opened the series with a 10-7 victory. Six Nations responded with a 10-9 win in Game 2, only to see the Indians win Game 3 11-5 to take a 2-1 series lead. The Rebels rebounded in Game 4 with an 11-6 victory to force Game 5.

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Six Nations general manager Scott Maracle was emotional after Wednesday’s win because the Rebels had dedicated their the season to his brother and former team president, Wray, who died in March after a four-year battle with cancer.
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“This is for him up here,” said Maracle, pointing to the sky, tears welling in his eyes. “Hopefully, we can bring one more trophy for him.”
He acknowledged Akwesasne’s strong effort.
”It went back and forth and we were lucky enough to come out and take Game 5,” said Maracle, adding that both the Rebels and Indians are “great teams; neither one deserved to lose.”
Kyran Sunday kicked off the scoring for the Indians 18 seconds into the first period after the the faceoff draw. And Kainen Francis picked up a goal just over a minute later to put the Indians up 2-0 but the first period would be taken by the Rebels, who replied with four unanswered goals, including one each from Marshall and Sidney Powless, to take a 5-3 lead.
The second period was far tighter defensively for both teams, each of whom had few rushes or drives to the net. It was all about the perimeter game. And, while the Indians got more shots, Six Nations had greater ball movement and capitalized on their chances.
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A second period hat-trick from Chayton King put Six Nations ahead 8-4.
The game, however, was far from over as the Indians finally found some urgency to their game midway through the third period. Akwesasne was down 11-9 with seven minutes to go.
But whenever the Indians made a push, the Rebels had an answer.
Wes Whitlow sealed the game for the Rebels, scoring two in the third.
Six Nations goalie Briley Miller also played a role in securing the series, making crucial stops in the last five minutes despite the barrage from Akwesasne. He made 41 saves.
Indians general manager Roy Ledoux said his team could have played better.
“We had to crash the net a lot more.”
While he would’ve been happy to move onto nationals, Ledoux said: “I think it’s the Ontario championships that matter more.” He noted that the Founders Cup has been won by an Ontario team for nine years in a row.
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Ledoux said he is happy that the Rebels dedicated their season to Wray Maracle. “(Wray) spent many years with that team. He built them.”
SIx Nations captain Daylen Hill also praised the Indians, who kept the Rebels outside the crease for most of the game.
“My hat’s off to their defence. Those wooden sticks are pretty tough.”
As he celebrated Wednesday’s victory, Hill also looked ahead to the Founders Cup.
“I’m expecting every game to be tough,” he said. “This is my last year so I’m looking to win every game at Founders and not look back.”

The Rebels will open the Founders Cup against the North Shore Kodiaks on Aug. 13.
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