Akweks defeated in hockey semifinals  

The U15 Kahnawake Survival School (KSS) Akweks’ playoff run ended in its first game on Tuesday afternoon, as they lost to Beaconsfield High School (BHS) 8-1 in the semifinals of the Greater Montreal Athletic Association (GMAA) hockey playoffs.

But the final score does not tell the whole story, according to Brandon Bordeau, KSS’s student engagement and activities facilitator.

“The final against BHS started well. We scored the first goal of the game,” said Bordeau.

Beaconsfield, the best team during the regular season, scored twice afterwards to go up 2-1, and midway through the game, KSS was still battling hard with the top seed – so much so that they appeared to have tied the game.

But it was not meant to be as the officials reversed the good goal call. KSS found themselves down again and would not recover as Beaconsfield ran away with the game in the second half.

“They are the first-place team for a reason, they got their breaks and capitalized,” said Bordeau.

He added that KSS played hard and demonstrated good sportsmanship, even in the face of a disappointing end to their season.

KSS won twice in nine games during the regular season, finishing fourth in their four-team league. That being said, they did finish on a strong note before the playoffs, winning their last game of the regular season at home 7-3 against St. Thomas High School on February 4.

Bordeau said that they will use this year as something to build off of for next year’s season.

“We were a young team. We only have four players moving up to U18, so next year should be our apex year,” said Bordeau.

One of the players hoping to come back next year for the Akweks is goaltender Hayse Horne, who joined the team partway through the season.

Horne, who also plays AAA hockey for the Lac St. Louis Warriors girls’ team, said going back to playing against boys was a big difference.

“The boys have way harder shots than the girls,” said Horne, who had played double letter boys’ hockey in the two seasons prior to this one.

She said that while this season was not necessarily the greatest she has ever played, she thinks the team working hard to improve will help them for the future.

By trying out next year, she is hoping to be a part of that future, and hopefully help make it a successful one for KSS hockey.

The other semifinal, between the second-seed Laval Sr. Academy and the third-seed St. Thomas High School, will be played on Monday, February 24 at 1:30 p.m. at Pierre Creamer Arena in Laval. The finals between the winner of that game and BHS are scheduled for February 27.

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