Six Nations Chiefs’ Mann Cup championship ‘one for the memory book’

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Six Nations Chiefs assistant coach, general manager and president Duane ‘Dewey’ Jacobs has won the Mann Cup Canadian senior men’s lacrosse championship nine times.

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The team’s most recent championship, captured on the weekend when the Chiefs defeated the New Westminster Salmonbellies 4-3 in the best-of-seven final in British Columbia, feels just as good as the others.

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“This one was definitely right up there,” said Jacobs, who won three championships with the Chiefs as an assistant captain from 1994-96.

“The first one as a player was pretty special but this one, it’s going to be a memorable one. Going to seven games on the road in a hostile environment, it was one for the memory book, for sure.”

Six Nations headed into the 2025 Major Series Lacrosse season looking for a pair of threepeats. The Chiefs had won the past two MSL and Mann Cups but they had some work to do on their lineup.

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Although they were happy with their balance, depth and goaltending, the team did lose a boatload of scoring after Austin Staats and Eli McLaughlin didn’t return. However, they filled those holes with Josh Byrne and Dawson Theede and the Chiefs went 24-3 on their way to winning the MSL championship.

“We didn’t have our full lineup until Game 16,” Jacobs explained.

“We felt pretty good about things after the playoffs and Ontario final. We seemed to be really jelling and hitting our stride but we kind of limped into the Mann Cup.”

Six Nations had several players injured to start the Mann Cup championship and the Salmonbellies took advantage by jumping into a 2-0 series lead. Despite trailing, Jacobs said morale didn’t dip.

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“We felt confident in our guys,” he said.

“I felt like after Game 2, we got a day off and got the rest the players needed. I felt they were really fresh in the morning shoot around the day of Game 3.

“I thought they were going to come up with their best game and that’s exactly what they did.”

Six Nations would win Game 3 by a comfortable score of 19-9. But on the floor and in the stands, everything was far from comfortable.

There were several fights among spectators after the game and Jacobs said the action on the floor was heated as well.

“I would say it was pretty intense,” he said. “It was a war out there, basically.”

By the end of the series, the teams had combined for 472 minutes in penalties, an average of 67 minutes per game.

New Westminster also drew the ire of Six Nations in Game 4 – a 10-3 Chiefs win – when it requested an equipment check on their goaltender, Doug Jamieson.

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“You know, if you’re going to beat us, you’re going to have to beat us on the scoreboard,” said Jacobs.

The Chiefs fell behind in the series 3-2 and without injured superstars Randy Staats and Byrne for Games 6 and 7, the team could have folded.

However, Six Nations dug down deep and scored wins of 10-6 in Game 6 and 12-7 in Game 7 to secure the championship.

“We just really showed how great this team was,” Jacobs said.

The loss means the Salmonbellies, who own the most Mann Cups with 24, still haven’t won the national championship since 1991. The Chiefs are now a perfect 9-0 in Mann Cup championships.

Jacobs has now been part of two Mann Cup threepeats. Only two teams in history – both from Peterborough – have won four in a row and Jacobs said it’s too early to start thinking about matching that record.

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“We’re going to savour this one and then we’ll get together in a month or so and talk about next season,” he said. “We really want to take some time to decompress.”

Jacobs praised coach John Tavares for being masterful at making in-game adjustments and communicating with players and also said it was a great win for the Six Nations community.

“We had great support this year, as always,” he said. “We have a great following. We’re thankful and grateful for that.

“It means a lot for everyone to be able to represent the team and the community on a national stage.”

Jacobs has obviously been around a lot of lacrosse in his lifetime and he puts the 2025 Chiefs among the best teams Six Nations has produced.

“This is a great team, maybe one of the best in all-time franchise history,” he said.

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