The Elora Mohawks didn’t have much time to celebrate their provincial championship before departing for the Founders Cup national tournament in Akwesasne.
The team captured the Ontario Junior B Lacrosse League Championship on Aug. 9, after defeating the Clarington Green Gaels 3-1 in the best-of-five final series.
Just four days later, they boarded a bus and departed for the national tournament.
Head coach Kyle Goss said the quick turnaround is likely a good thing for the team.
“It didn’t give us a lot of time to dwell on it or be too confident,” said Goss in an Aug. 14 interview from Cornwall Island.
He added winning the Ontario championship is a great accomplishment, but the team’s players and management realize there is still work to be done.
“We didn’t start the season to just be the Ontario champs. We want to be the national champions,” said Goss.
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The team, which captured the Ontario Junior B Lacrosse League championship on Aug. 9, will begin its quest for the 2018 Founders Cup with three round robin games this week before elimination games begin on Aug. 17. Submitted photo
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“We want to live in the moment and enjoy the opportunity, which is huge for the boys – but we’re here for a reason, that’s for sure.”
The Mohawks, who finished first in Ontario’s western conference this season, will have 11 players graduating after this year, which adds even more motivation to capitalize on the opportunity.
“We planned all year to have a veteran group … we knew we had to push for [the Founders Cup] this year,” said Goss.
The Mohawks will be seeking their first national championship since 2005.
They will join seven other teams vying to become 2018 national Jr. B champions: the Saskatchewan Swat, Manitoba Blizzard, North Shore Kodiaks, Calgary Shamrocks, Coquitlam Adanacs, Seneca War Chiefs and the host Mohawk Medicine Men.
Goss said the Mohawks know very little about the teams from the western provinces – but that, too, is likely not a bad thing.
“We don’t want to change anything we’ve done all year,” he told the Advertiser.
“And if we need to, we can make adjustments on the fly, which is another thing we’ve been good at this season.”
Each team in the Founders Cup tournament will play three round robin games before elimination games are played on Aug. 17.
The championship will be decided the following day.
Schedule
The Elora Mohawks were to battle the Medicine Men on Aug. 14, followed by games against the Manitoba Blizzard (Aug. 15 at 2pm) and Saskatchewan Swat (Aug. 16 at 11am).
All games will take place at the A’nowara’ko:wa Arena on Cornwall Island, with teams and supporters staying in Cornwall.
All tournament games are to be livestreamed by the JVI Sports Network.
