AKRON, N.Y. -- Akron High School's boys lacrosse team leads the nation with nearly 24 goals per game. The Tigers are 16-0 entering Tuesday's sectional quarterfinals of New York State's Class C playoffs. And none of that even takes into account what might be the team's most consequential act of 2015.
The Tigers decided in March, before the season began, that they would not play neighboring Lancaster, another high school in Buffalo's eastern suburbs. Lancaster was at the time suffering the agonies of a bitter public debate over its longtime team name — the same one the Washington NFL club uses — and 16 of Akron's 21 players are members of the Tonawanda Seneca Nation.