Just a week after a 15-14 non-league win for the Oswego River Hawks, the Thousand Island Spirits returned to the Port City and earned a 28-17 win in a high-scoring affair.
The loss drops the Oswego squad to 3-1 overall and 0-1 in divisional play, while the Spirits improve to 2-2 and 1-0 in the division.
Before the game, representatives from both teams joined for a ceremonial face-off in honor and memory of Alf Jacques, who passed away last week. Alf was a traditional stickmaker who had learned the craft from his father, and he earned worldwide recognition for his workmanship, story-telling, and smile.
The River Hawks jumped led 5-4 at the end of 15 minutes of play, following goals by Chris Deisenroth, Cam Simpson, Ryan Mahoney, Will Hardy, and Evan Grobsmith. The second quarter plenty of scoring from both teams, as both the River Hawks and the Spirits tallied seven goals each. Simpson and Grobsmith tallied a goal each, and then Hardy recorded three consecutive goals, followed by two more from Tom Costanza.
By comparison to last week’s game, the first half had few penalties, but that changed in the third quarter as two separate incidents marred the night’s contest. With the score tied 14-14, a fight broke out between two players, and an Oswego player jumped in, prompting an automatic third-man-in ejection. A second altercation ensued, and a total of five players were given five or ten-minute majors. The Spirits came away with a five-minute power play, which resulted in goals from Kaine Kettle and then Ben French.
With a 16-14 lead, the Spirits took all the momentum and went on to score two more third quarter goals before another fight broke out. This one occurred away from the ball, and the smaller River Hawks player came out on the short end of the scrap with the bigger Spirits player.
The fight seemed to be taken out of the River Hawks throughout the fourth quarter, as frustrations led to three more minor penalties. By game’s end, the River Hawks were called for 11 penalties totaling 34 minutes, while the Spirits were assessed eight penalties for 25 minutes.
Two fourth-quarter goals by Costanza followed another tally from Hardy, but the Spirits’ offense never slowed. Oswego starting goalie Jack Beck was replaced by Tom Fernaays with six and half minutes to play, and he gave up five of the Spirits’ ten fourth-quarter goals.
Hardy finished the game as Oswego’s leading scorer with nine points (6-3), followed by Costanza (4-0), Simpson (3-0), and Grobsmith (2-1); seven other River Hawks recorded one point. Beck finished with 34 saves and 23 goals against (60 %) while Fernaays had three saves and five goals against (38 %).
Next up for the River Hawks is another divisional game against the Salt City Eels, Friday, June 23 at the Onondaga Nation Arena; game time is 7:30 PM. Oswego’s’ next home game is set for Friday, June 30 when they host the Utica Yeti in another NABLL Upstate Division contest.
