U11B Mohawks win tournament gold

Kahnawake minor hockey is continuing to have a strong season, with the U11B Mohawks the latest team to have a strong showing in a tournament.

The team competed in the 29th Notre-Dame-de-Grace (NDG) Provincial U11 tournament last weekend, going undefeated in five games.

U11B Mohawks coach Kyle Zacharie said that the team has had a successful season so far, currently sitting with a 13-4-2 record.

They have also done well in tournament play - this being their second tournament of the season - but they went into the weekend looking to improve on their performance in the Cumberland Dukes House League Showdown in Ottawa in November.

“We had a good run at the Cumberland Dukes Showdown in Ottawa, but unfortunately we lost in the semifinals,” said Zacharie.

The Mohawks started the tournament off strong, with a pair of wins on Friday, December 13 to get them to the Saturday quarterfinals – a 5-3 win against the Verdun Bulldogs and a 4-2 win against the NDG Panthers.

In the quarterfinals, the Mohawks continued their winning ways, with a decisive 7-3 win against the Rosemont-Petite-Patrie Pioneers.

That got them back to a tournament semifinal, in a meeting with the Hochelaga Phoenix.

This time, Kahnawake punched their ticket to the finals on Sunday, thanks to a 6-5 win in a close affair.

“It was a really exciting back and forth game,” said Zacharie.

The Mohawks coach said that once the team reached the elimination round, he could feel that they were getting nervous.

“But, they were able to focus on their goals and play their game,” said Zacharie.

It would be another close game come finals time, where they met a team from their own league, the Mount Royal Outremont Diablos.

“We played them to a 3-0 victory in the second game of the season, but hadn’t met up since,” said Zacharie.

Because it had been a while since they played each other, Zacharie was not sure what to expect going into the game.

Some of the Mohawks’ players felt some nervousness before the game against the Diablos Sunday.

“Before (the game), I was very nervous, I thought our tournament lives were on the line,” said Austin Kane, who plays forward for the Mohawks.

“I was nervous, because it was gold medals that we were playing for,” said Rotkwenionhatie Diabo, a defender for the Mohawks.

Goaltender Mason McGregor-Brown, meanwhile, did not feel those nerves before the finals matchup.

“I’ve played in a lot of gold medal games,” explained McGregor-Brown.

The goalie put up a great performance against the Diablos, said Zacharie, including a last-minute save to preserve a two-goal lead.

“He made a stretched out flashy glove save during a breakaway attempt,” said Zacharie. That save kept the score at 4-2 in favour of the Mohawks, who won the game and the gold medal.

“The goalie was doing good, his saves kept us alive for the whole tournament,” said McGregor-Brown’s teammate, defender Shotarowan:ne Jacobs.

Zacharie said the win was a “total team effort,” and that it helped put their performance in Ottawa behind them.

“The team was really excited to win gold, but it also went a long way with their confidence following the Cumberland Dukes tournament,” said Zacharie.

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