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Local men’s lacrosse squad wins Onondaga Nation tournament

October 11, 2023 668 views

$By Sam Laskaris Writer A men’s lacrosse squad comprised primarily of Six Nations players captured top honours at an Onondaga Nation tournament. The local club, called Down Belowers, participated in the three-day event named The Nations Cup. All matches in the tourney, which concluded on Sunday, were at the Onondaga Nation Arena, near Syracuse, N.Y. Five teams participated in The Nations Cup. Players were representing their Haudenosaunee communities. This marked the first time The Nations Cup had been staged since 2019. The event was not held in each of the past three years because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This year’s entrants included three squads from Onondaga Nation. They were the Onondaga Fire, Onondaga Warriors and a club simply called House Team. Also participating was a squad from Allegany, N.Y. The Down Belowers won all six of their matches at the tournament. They defeated the Onondaga Fire 8-7 in the championship final. Travis Longboat scored the game-winning goal for the Down Belowers on a penalty shot in the dying moments of the final. The Down Belowers were awarded a penalty shot after the Fire was called for a too many men infraction. The Down Belowers are a tournament team organized by brothers Elan, Stephen and Al Henhawk. The squad competed in its first tourney in 2019. “It’s all just to have some fun,” said Elan Henhawk, who is also one of the Down Belowers’ goalies. Clubs at The Nations Cup were also playing for a bit of cash. Teams had to pay a $1,000 registration fee. Members of The Down Belowers ended up winning $3,500. Elan Henhawk said his side did not know what sort of competition it would face at the tournament. “It was thrown together so fast,” said Henhawk, a member of the Six Nations Tomahawks, a Senior C team that won the Ontario-based Senior Series Lacrosse championship this past August. “We didn’t get the schedule of it until the day before.” One of the reasons the schedule was late getting posted was because tournament organizers had to reshuffle things. Henhawk said a squad from Kahnawake, Que. was also supposed to compete in the event but did not take part. Henhawk shared the Down Belowers’ goaltending duties with Dusty Hill. Hill, who has signed a contract with the National Lacrosse League’s Georgia Swarm, said he played in The Nations Cup as a tuneup for his upcoming training camp with the Swarm. “It felt really comfortable,” said Hill, who backstopped the Down Belowers to victory in Sunday’s final. “It was just being with a bunch of guys I’ve known pretty much my whole life.” The Down Belowers trailed by as many as three goals in the second period of Sunday’s championship final. “We all knew the goals were going to come,” Hill said. “We had a lot of experienced players.” The Down Belowers’ next tournament will be the Dreamcatcher Lacrosse Festival. That event, which is scheduled for Dec. 1-3, will be held at Six Nations’ Iroquois Lacrosse Arena.$

By Sam Laskaris Writer A men’s lacrosse squad comprised primarily of Six Nations players captured top honours at an Onondaga Nation tournament. The local club, called Down Belowers, participated in the three-day event named The Nations Cup. All matches in the tourney, which concluded on Sunday, were at the Onondaga Nation Arena, near Syracuse, N.Y. Five teams participated in The Nations Cup. Players were representing their Haudenosaunee communities. This marked the first time The Nations Cup had been staged since 2019. The event was not held in each of the past three years because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This year’s entrants included three squads from Onondaga Nation. They were the Onondaga Fire, Onondaga Warriors and a club simply called House Team. Also participating was a squad from Allegany, N.Y. The…

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