Season over for Akweks lacrosse
File photo
Although the Kahnawake Survival School (KSS) Akweks field lacrosse team did not successfully repeat as Greater Montreal Athletics Association (GMAA) champions after a 9-5 loss to Stanstead College, coach Al Jones thinks it was still an overall good season for the young squad.
“I’m proud of how they finished the season to make playoffs. It’s always your goal to make the postseason. So that was goal number one, and goal number two is to win the championship, but it doesn’t always turn out the way you want it, but you keep moving forward,” said Jones.
“The score was very close - 9-5 is not a bad score for our young team.”
It was an improvement from their previous meeting during the regular season, which Stanstead won 14-7; one of their six wins en route to a perfect regular season and first place in the standings.
“They have some really big, physical athletes for our boys to compete with,” said Jones.
KSS, meanwhile, finished fourth in the standings with a 3-3 record. They registered wins against Pierrefonds Community High School (12-3), Beaconsfield High School (14-8), and Westwood High School (forfeit). Along with Stanstead, they also lost close games to Howard S. Billings (15-14) and College Jean de Brebeuf (10-9).
Many of the players on the Akweks’ field lacrosse team this year are in grade eight or nine and playing their first few games of field lacrosse after coming mostly from box lacrosse backgrounds. Many of their opponents, especially Stanstead, are often at least two years older than they are and have been playing GMAA field lacrosse seasons for a few years at this stage.
“We stood up to a team with 12th graders and 11th graders, primarily, and the boys stood up to them and made it competitive,” said Jones.
“So, it shows them that we’re in it; we’re not that far off. One year of maturity does definitely make a difference. Also, Stanstead will lose some of their older guys, so I feel we’re in a comfortable spot moving forward.”
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Stanstead will have played the GMAA finals against College-Jean-de-Brebeuf on Thursday afternoon, after The Eastern Door’s publishing deadline. Brebeuf defeated Howard S. Billings 9-6 on Tuesday to reach the finals.
The last few years, Stanstead has often been a playoff opponent for KSS - although the last two years, their meetings have been in the finals. In 2024, Stanstead beat KSS in Kahnawake to win the banner, before KSS got their payback last year, again in front of a home crowd.
