St. Catharines, ONT – The Redhawks held the lead for all of 6 seconds; and that was enough to secure a win over the Capital Region Axeman 9-8 in the first game of the 2015 Presidents Cup.
It didn’t look to good for the defending Presidents Cup champions as the Axemen were ready to show that they wanted to make some noise in the their first cup appearance. With Edmund Cathers getting the starting nod for this 10am contest, the Axemen solved Cathers with two quick goals before righty Pete Benedict was able to score. The Quebec representative wasn’t resting on their 2-1 lead as they scored two more goals and headed into the first intermission with a 4-1 lead.
If the Redhawks were hoping that the second period would change the momentum, they were disappointed. The Axemen scored first to stretch the lead to 5-1 before Hiana Thompson was able to tally a power play goal. Pete Benedict scored his second and the score read 5-3. The Axemen then went on a run of their own tallying 3 to make the score 8-3. Then late into the closing minutes of the second period, Redhawk Hunter Hemlock made a nifty inside dodge and scored, 8-4 Axemen.
Down by 4, Coach Ed Shenandoah made a goal tending shift to hope to change momentum, and it did as the Axemen would go the remainder of the game, scoreless. After goaltender Ross Bucktooth made a save to start the third period, Hunter Hemlock scored again, 8-5 Axemen lead. With Jeremy Thompson controlling the face-offs and the defense energized, the Axemen offense went cold and the Redhawk offense heated up. Pete Benedict scored his third when he scooped up a rebound on the crease and beat the goaltender, 8-6 Axemen. With the shot clock winding down, Captain Brett Bucktooth rolled to the inside and bounced the ball between the Axemen goalie’s legs, 8-7 Axemen. After a great save by Bucktooth, Cree Cathers planted his feet and found some room to shoot on the outside and tied the game at 8 with his 
outside blast. Then with a minute left remaining, the Axemen appeared to have the go-ahead goal before Ross Bucktooth was able to slide to make the save. With under a minute to play, the Redhawks pulled the goaltender. After setting two picks of his own, Brett Bucktooth scored the game winner with 6 seconds remaining!
The 2015 Presidents Cup doesn’t get any easier as they are slated to play the host, St. Catharine Saints tomorrow at 8pm.
