2019 SLC-11/SALMON RIVER-16

Shamrocks outscored second-seeded St. Lawrence Central 16-11 in the Section 10 Championshp Game.

Both squads are now headed for the NYSPHSAA playoffs and will be hosting first round games against their Section 3 counterparts on Wednesday back at Potsdam Central. As the overall champion, Salmon River (13-4) advances to the Class D tournament and will take on Lafayette starting at 7:30 p.m. while the Larries (13-4), as sectional runners-up, will gear up to take on Jamesville-DeWitt in the Class C matchup slated to face-off at 5 p.m.

“Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers,” sighed SLC coach Chris Rose after his squad fell in the championship game for the second straight year after having won the title in 2017. “Give Salmon River credit, they played better than we did and they wanted it more. We didn’t help ourselves with all the mistakes we made and they took advantage of them.”

“Before the game I heard some of our kids talking about how this was like playing just another game but it’s not. This is a championship game. It’s a higher level of game than we’ve played all year and we didn’t step up,” he added.

After trading goals with the Larries early, the Shamrocks worked their way to a 6-3 lead through the first quarter. The scoring pace slowed considerably in the second frame with each squad managing to break through for just one goal to make it 7-4 at the half.

Salmon River opened the third quarter with a 4-1 run that ended with sophomore Keldren King pushing the lead to 11-5 with 3:12 remaining off an assist from Talon Thompson. But the Larries closed the quarter with three straight goals then two more to open the fourth with freshman Jayden Ashley circling the net then whipping a behind-the-back shot into the top of the net from the left with 9:08 left in regulation that pulled the Larries to within one at 11-10.

Following a timeout, the Shamrocks responded with the five straight goals over the next seven minutes to seal the win before SLC struck for the final tally with 39 seconds remaining.

King led the Salmon River attack with five goals and two assists. Junior Ronerahtenen Mitchell generated two goals and four helpers. Freshman Crayton Cree notched another four goals followed by sophomore Kyren Lazore with three whle juniors Cobie Cree (1 assist) and Khyler Johnson connected for the other goals. Stone Chubb, Hawi Cook-Francis and Skylar David each tallied an assist while junior Falcon Cook stopped 10 of the shots he faced through the first three quarters before sophomore Ryan Oakes, Jr., took over between the pipes in the fourth quarter and didn’t record a save.

Ashley finished with six goals in the losing cause. Junior Logan Shantie connected for a pair of goals while senior Matt Burg, who went down with a lower leg injury late in the third quarter and spent the rest of the game on the sideline, fashioned a goal and two assists. Sophomore Alex Burg logged a goal and assist and junior Zach Dumers earned a pair of assists. Senior John Sullivan produced a solo helper and junior Cash Feeley stopped 11 shots working the SLC crease. (NORTH COUNTRY NOW)