There was a good crowd on hand to watch the Onondaga Redhawks take game one of the best of seven series over Native Sons with a 10-4 win.
With Redhawk Jeremey Thompson taking all of the face-offs tonight, the Redhawks enjoyed many initial possessions of the draw and veteran forward Neal Powless took advantage.
The lefty drove hard to the crease taking him and his defender to the crease and beating the goaltender low for the first goal of the game barely 35 seconds into the contest. Pete Benedict jumped into the scoring column when Hunter Hemlock drew the defender and sent a pretty pass to Pete who beat the goalie to the corner for a 2-0 lead. Brett Bucktooth and Jeremy Thompson showed how to finish a fast break as they beat the Sons’ defense down the floor and Jeremy assisted Brett for a 3-0 lead and forced a timeout from the visitors. The play was rough in front of Redhawk goal tender Edmund Cathers and the home team found themselves shorthanded as two Redhawk defenders were sitting in the box as the visitors were finally able to solve Cathers as they scored twice to narrow the score to 3-2. But Wade Bucktooth ended the period’s scoring with a power play goal to make the score 4-2.
Behind the stellar play in goal by Cathers, the Redhawk offence took the initiative. Pete Benedict scored his second of the night nearside on the Sons’ net minder. Neal Powless added his second of the night before Wade Bucktooth fired from the outside, then hustled through the defense to scoop up the loose ball and deposit it in the net for a 7-2 Redhawk lead. After Native Sons scored third power play goal of the game, Pete Benedict scored on a power play goal of his own. The net minder initially made the save but the ball was determined to cross the line as it rolled slowly behind the keeper to make the score 8-3 at the end of the second period.
With the Native Son offense frustrated by the play of Edmund Cathers and the Redhawk defense, play became rough. Two Native Sons’ players were ejected for excessive rough play. The Redhawk power play took advantage with righty forward Cam Simpson scoring a nifty goal on the crease and Captain Brett Bucktooth scoring on a blast from up top. With a few minutes left to play, Native Sons score their final goal of the game to make the score 10-4, Redhawks.
Saturday, August 08, 2015 the Redhawks travel to Cattaraugus for game two at 7pm before returning to play at home on Sunday, August 9, 2015 at 4pm.
Click to watch Highlights