Chiefs strike first

Photo by Darryl Smart

When Six Nations Pro-Fit Chiefs general manager Steve Dietrich pulled off the deals to acquire Paul and Dawson from the Brampton Excelsiors, he knew the brothers would be a key cogs in the wheel.
In Game 1 of the Mann Cup final, that was especially so.
While Dan was his usual self up front scoring three goals and four assists, Paul was a defensive force, while adding one goal and two assists, as the Chiefs beat the Maple Ridge Burrards 15-8 in front of a very full Iroquois lacrosse Arena.
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"I don't usually get up there, but when I saw we had numbers I decided to go up with them," Paul said of his goal. "I saw my brother with me and got the ball back. He parted the red sea there taking out three guys which forced me to shoot."
That goal gave the Chiefs a 6-5 they would not give up.
"That was a big goal for us," Chiefs coach Rich Kilgour said. "Up 5-1 after one period, I think we were patting ourselves on the back a little bit. They came out with a ton of pride. They're here for a reason and showed us by coming back to tie things up. We needed that goal to get the momentum back."
After Ben McIntosh opened the scoring for the Burrards, the Chiefs came roaring back, with junior A call up Austin Staats leading the way with a pair of goals, while Dan Dawson, Randy Staats and Ryan Benesch scored the forst of his three on the night.
Aaron Davis, Riley Loewen, McIntosh and Dan Taylor tied things up, before Paul Dawson stopped the bleeding. Benesch, Dan Dawson and Randy Staats added goals to extend the Chiefs lead after two periods.
in the third period, Benesch scored twice, while Brier Jonathan, Roger Vyse and Dan Dawson add to the goal count.
Loewen, Jarrett Davis and Connor Goodwin responded for the Western Lacrosse Association
champions.
"It wasn't one of our best games, but it's Game 1," Davis said. "We've already turned the page on this one. We have a quick turnaround with Game 2 tomorrow. That's our focus now."
Burrards coach Rob Williams liked the way his team battled back in the second period.

"Those 15 minutes we played Burrards lacrosse," Williams said. "And you can see what happened. We play like hat for 60 minutes, I think it would've been a different game. But the guys are going to regroup, and we'll be ready tomorrow."
Game 2 of the series is 8 p.m. Saturday at the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena. If you can't get to the game, watch it live online thanks to JVI Sports Network HERE.