How the Six Nations Rivermen Flipped a 0-2 Playoff Series: Inside the Comeback Against Hamilton

Down 0-2 in a best-of-five is the kind of hole that quietly ends seasons. You win Game 3 or you go home. On Episode 38 of The Creator's Game, Deya Miller, Jay Smith, and Chris Vale open the mic the morning of a Game 5 that only exists because the Six Nations Rivermen refused to stay buried. Listen to the full conversation on the Creator's Game podcast. As of this recording, the Rivermen have tied the Senior B quarterfinal series 2-2 against Hamilton, with Game 5 scheduled for the ILA tonight at 7 p.m. Two nights ago they won at home. Yesterday they won in Hamilton, a building that had already taken two games from them. The comeback is not complete. The comeback is happening. Key Moments from This Episode [02:13] Game 3 recap - Rivermen took it to Hamilton, final around 9-5, and Anahalis Doxtator had two goals after an overtime loss in Game 2. [02:54] Game 4 on the road - Rivermen never trailed the entire game. 8-7 final. Hamilton never had the tie. [04:00] Jay on the dressing-room pettiness: water, ice, small rooms, bathroom sinks. [05:49] The stick-stepping social media post - Game 1 footage posted the day of Game 4. [13:00] Hamilton is a very gritty team. Let the better team win. Jay keeps it clean. [14:02] Winner goes to President's Cup - Brooklin is already in as host. [41:14] Allora Mohawks vs Kahnawake Mohawks Jr B Ontario final - Allora's starting goalie gets a 4-game suspension for derogatory comments. [48:52] Six Nations Rivermen 2025 OA awards: Thunder Hill MVP, Ty Logan Defensive Player of the Year, Rod Squire Most Dedicated, Rivermen Coaching Staff of the Year. [50:43] Rochester Knighthawks rumour mill - Wegmans grocery as potential new owner, since retracted. [1:16:29] Beyond Pryde announces a September skills competition - hardest shot, fastest break, relays, sponsored events. The First Two Games: What Went Wrong Hamilton is a grittier team than most visiting fans give them credit for. Last year, even Senior B players were hoping Hamilton and Brooklin would knock each other out in the first round because Hamilton, not Brooklin, was the tougher matchup. That reality showed up in Games 1 and 2. The Rivermen had never held a lead through the first two games. Not once. They got scored on early, they chased the game, and they left Hamilton sitting at 2-0. That is how quickly a Senior B quarterfinal can turn into a closeout. Layered on top of the lacrosse itself was the stuff that happens around the edges of a playoff series. Small dressing rooms. No water provided. No ice. The Rivermen equipment guy Rich being told that if the team wanted water, they could get it from the bathroom sink. Social media posts timed to drop the morning of Game 4, using Game 1 footage of a stick being stepped on with no context. It was a coordinated attempt to get inside the Rivermen's heads, and for two games, some of it was landing. Game 3: The Adjustment Between games, head coach Wayne and assistant coaches Timmy Bomberry and Roger Vyse did what good bench staffs do. They sat the whole roster down at centre floor, talked honestly, and reset the approach. On the floor, three things changed. David Anderson returned to the lineup and immediately showed why the team missed him in Game 1. Anahalis Doxtator, who had scored two in the overtime loss in Game 2, stayed hot and scored two more. The result was a 9-5 home win that did not just swing the series. It changed the whole mood of the room. Hamilton never even had the game tied, Chris noted on the podcast, recapping the next game. That was the new standard, and it carried into Game 4. Game 4 on the Road: Holding the Lead Winning on home floor is one thing. Winning in the building that took your first two games is a different test. Game 4 started with Hamilton scoring twice inside the first 30 seconds. That was the moment the whole series threatened to flip back. It did not. The Rivermen answered, took the lead, and held it the rest of the way for an 8-7 win. Small details mattered. Danton Miller hunted rebounds and capitalized on goalie Aiden Walsh being out of position. Captain Rod Squire, mostly a defender, was moved up to offence for a game earlier in the series and scored twice. Thunder Hill, at second in league scoring behind first overall and fresh off his league MVP, kept creating space for teammates. The takeaway: role players need to step up in a playoff run, and the Rivermen roster has been doing it. Elise, Don Bomberry, and the young offensive core have all contributed after a quiet Game 1. Mind Games and Grown Men The podcast spends a lot of time on the off-the-floor stuff because it is hard to ignore. Jay is careful not to name individuals on the opposing bench, but his message is consistent: you have grown men playing a grown man's game, and the pettiness has to stop somewhere. His point is not that the Rivermen are above it. His point is that it is not working. Stepping on a stick and waiting three games to post the clip. Not providing water. Small dressing rooms. Denying post-game footage to the other team. None of it has flipped a result. All it has done is unify a room. This is the part of playoff lacrosse that does not show up on the score sheet but shapes every series. The teams that win in May and August are usually the teams that refuse to get dragged into the off-floor theatre. What Game 5 Demands Game 5 is tonight at the ILA. Do or die. The Rivermen have won both home games in the series. Thunder Hill, Danton Miller, Rod Squire, Ty Logan, and the rest of the veteran core know exactly what to expect from Hamilton. The road team will show up gritty, will probably get chippy, and will try the same off-floor mental games that have not worked so far. What changes in a do-or-die game is usually the early minutes. The team that settles first tends to control the night. A veteran-heavy team like the Rivermen has an edge there. Roger Vyse, Timmy Bomberry, and Wayne on the bench have been through enough Game 5s to know exactly what to say and, more importantly, what not to say. Winner goes to the President's Cup as a second Ontario rep alongside host Brooklin. But as Jay points out on the podcast, the Rivermen do not want to walk in as a finalist. They want to walk in as defending Ontario champions. Episode 38 runs about 1 hour 22 minutes. Listen on YouTube, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts, or grab merch to support the show at creatorsgame.myshopify.com.