Tracey Hope
Special to The Lake Report

In sports, it’s never over till it’s over.

Two Niagara-on-the-Lake lacrosse teams embraced that mantra Saturday as they battled back to capture their zone championships at home in Virgil.

First up were the U9 Niagara Thunderhawks.

Down 6-2 to the Six Nations 2 going into the third period, Niagara exploded for eight goals in the final frame.

“The team kept their composure being down four after the second period,” said head coach Jared Hope. “They really left everything on the floor to pull out the win.”

The Thunderhawks tied it up with nine minutes left in the game and added four more en route to win the Zone 9 “C” division championship 10-6.

Bennett Hope had four goals and Brock Friesen added three, while Auston Cwiertniewski had a pair and Connor Cech chipped in with a single, the game-tying goal.

Assistant coach Gary Friesen said the team was still optimistic despite being down 6-2 but felt that if they got a couple of quick goals they could shift the momentum.

“Albeit we didn’t expect to get eight unanswered,” he said. “It was a really fun game. Comeback wins are some of the most exciting games.”

A lot of the U9 Thunderhawks have been playing together since they were three and four years old and this championship was their first major win.

Being able to compete and win at home made it even more meaningful.

They will wrap up their season by competing in the provincial championship tournament, the Ontario Lacrosse Festival, in Oshawa in August.

Next up on Saturday afternoon were the U13 Thunderhawks.

Trailing the Six Nations 1 team 3-2 after two periods, they scored four times in the third and weathered the storm to win 6-5 and claim the Zone 9 “B” division championship.

Four different players scored for Niagara in the final, Hunter Froese and Mason Jaekle had a pair each, with singles by James Froese and Elijah Paul.

James Froese scored what proved to be the winner on a late penalty shot.

“It was a great team win,” said U13 coach Connor Watson.

“The boys really showed their resilience, trailing the whole game. With the number of chances we had it was just a matter of time before we potted a few.”

He said the coaching staff is proud of the strides the team has made this season, but added that “we have unfinished business” with the provincial championships coming up in Whitby in two weeks.