Six Nations make no mistake, claim another Mann Cup title

HAGERSVILLE, Ont. - The Six Nations Chiefs were favoured to win the Mann Cup because of their edge in experience but, in the end, they also prevailed because they refused to allow the tenacious Maple Ridge Burrards to outwork them.

After four close games, the Chiefs blew away the Burrards 14-6 Wednesday night to win the series 4-1 and celebrate their third Canadian senior lacrosse championship in four years.

“It was a tough series,” said captain Sid Smith. “They’re a hard-working team. We knew if we matched their work ethic we’d be all right.”

Six Nations had eight players from Canada’s victorious 2015 world championship team. Maple Ridge had none. There were 17 Chiefs in the finale who played in the pro NLL earlier this year. The Burrards had seven NLL players. Yet, the work ethic the captain talked about was a key factor, as was the goaltending of Dillon Ward, who produced his best game of the series with the gold trophy in the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena.

“I had to be at my best and my defence in front of me gave me the opportunity to be my best,” Ward said. “It was all-around just a great game.”

“I’m sky-high right now,” said head coach Rich Kilgour. “The boys really took care of business. They came out flying. We sensed we had a big opportunity and we took advantage of it. This one was just as much fun as the first one.”

Ryan Benesch scored four goals and Randy Staats three.

“I think before I was overthinking a little bit," said Staats. "This time, I kind of thought of it as just another game and came out with no nerves and played my ass off.”

Dan Dawson and Cody Jamieson scored two each. Dawson assisted on five and was named series MVP after amassing 30 points (8-22) in the five games, moving him into fourth place on the all-time Mann Cup points list.

“What a resilient group, getting through that (being down 0-3 in the Ontario final) series with Peterborough to get us to the Mann Cup . . . ,” said Dawson. “Kudos to Maple Ridge. They played great.”

“We showed a lot of resilience and got some real character efforts from guys like Cody Jamieson playing on one leg,” said checker-transition runner Brodie Merrill, who also played in the NLL with Toronto and in the MLL with Boston this year.

Added defenceman David Brock: “We knew this was an opportunity to win a Mann Cup championship in front of our hometown fans. They were behind us the whole way. We all looked in the mirror. We were getting tired and banged up so we knew we had to do it (Wednesday) or it might be a struggle.”

The Chiefs’ trading deadline acquisition from Brampton of brothers Dan and Paul Dawson gave them lineup depth other teams could not match.

“It’s been a long time since ’09 (with Brampton) that we’ve had this feeling,” said defenceman Paul Dawson.  "It’s always a bit nerve-wracking when you come to a team that’s already established but we’re happy it worked out, and thankful to Brampton for giving me and my brother the opportunity to come to a great organization like this and have the opportunity to win a Mann Cup.”

The Burrards last won the national title in 1977 and were in the Mann Cup series for the first time since 1990. The Mann Cup, which is played in Ontario one year and in B.C. the next, hasn’t been won by a West Coast team in the east since 1986.

“It was an amazing season by a bunch of young players,” said head coach Rob Williams. “It was a great learning experience for us. We’ve got probably another 10 years of competing for it. Who knows when you get back to it but at least we’re on the right track.

“Hats off to Six Nations. Dan Dawson was a class act from start to finish. He’s a great leader.”