Local laxers perform well at Nationals
Team Quebec U15 may have only won one game at Nationals in Halifax, but they made it count, walking away with a bronze medal. Courtesy Lacrosse Quebec
The 2025 Minor Box Lacrosse Nationals in Halifax saw two teams with Kahnawa’kehró:non players take home medals.
Team Quebec’s mixed U15 team had Aronhiakèn:ra Martin and Nashtyn Mayo on the roster, as well as Kyle Canatonquin from Kanesatake as head coach.
While Team Quebec was winless prior to their group B bronze medal game against Team New Brunswick, facing difficulties with injuries while playing against very strong programs, Canatonquin still felt the team had it in them to medal.
Prior to the game, he asked that everyone leave it all out on the floor.
“I told them ‘you guys have got to play your hardest and leave everything out on that floor. Make sure that by the end of this game, you can say in your head that you gave 110 percent,’” he said.
“I made them celebrate every little thing, like every loose ball battle that we won, I’d make them jump on the boards. And, you know, banging your sticks on the boards to make noise and let the players on the floor know that the players on the bench are rooting them on.”
Celebrating the little things kept them wanting to win the game, Canatonquin said.
And it worked.
“That was their best game they played all tournament,” he said.
Both teams were tied at two after the first period, before Francis Noiseux scored on the powerplay at 6:52 for Team Quebec.
Loic Leblanc scored shorthanded in the third to increase the lead.
“Everybody was jumping and celebrating. And I was like, ‘It’s not over yet boys, we still have to play defense,’” said Canatonquin.
They did, and that fourth goal was all that was needed, as Team Quebec won 4-2, with the players flooding the floor to huddle with their goalie.
“To end on a high note by winning bronze was really something. A couple of the coaches on the bench were tearing up because of how emotional they were. We really grew a connection with the team,” said Canatonquin.
The whole team bonded even though they came from many different places in the province, including Martin and Mayo being from Kahnawake.
“These kids wouldn’t really talk to each other unless they were on the same team,” said Canatonquin.
The team bonded together on the 13-hour bus ride, during practices and games, and during some team bonding activities like the starting five jumping off a pier made the players more connected to each other and better teammates.
He was happy to have the two Kahnawa’kehró:non on the team, and hoped that his coaching and their playing and winning a medal would open more doors for players from Kahnawake and Kanesatake.
The U15 girls First Nations Lacrosse Association (FNLA) team won gold in Group B, with Ivy Rose Takarahkwenhawe Cross, Ashtyn David, Aiananoron Cross, and Iakoieshon:ne Hemlock on the team.
They had one win prior to the medal game, but it was an important one, a 6-2 victory over Team Saskatchewan that set up a rematch in the Group B finals, which they won 5-2 for gold.
“It feels really nice to come back with a gold medal, especially from an opportunity not everyone gets a chance to have,” said David, who had an assist in the finals.
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“I was confident that we could win because we were a strong team and if we worked hard, we could get the win.”
Although they faced some tough competition as well, they did not back down, she said, working hard and winning when it mattered most.
