U13C Mohawks win silver 

Dollard-des-Ormeaux was host to two hockey tournaments this past weekend, one for U11 and one for U13.

The Kahnawake Mohawks participated in both tournaments, and the U13C team played a strong tournament, walking away with the silver medal.

“I saw our team probably play the best that they have all year, it was a total team effort,” said Lou Ann Stacey, manager for the U13C team.

Her nephew, Kydon Horne, had three assists in the tournament. Stacey said that after not being sure he wanted to play hockey at all this year, it was great to see him have fun and give his all on the ice.

“I said to him, ‘Have fun, just go out and enjoy it,’” said Stacey. “And for some reason, being with this team, his whole heart is still willing to do it again, and I'm excited to see that for him. He worked hard, he's a team player. And I think that's what I like about this team, because they're all team players. It's not about being an individual.”

Horne, for his part, said that he felt he gave it his all on the ice – and he did indeed have fun.

“I did my best every game,” said Horne.

“I felt I contributed to my team by preventing goals and getting assists,” he said, adding that he appreciates the bond the team has developed.

The U13C Mohawks were a mixed team, featuring four girls on the roster. One of them was Ivy Cross, who scored two goals and added an assist. This is her first season as a forward – she was a defender in previous years.

“I had fun. I like the challenge of tournaments, it keeps us focused on the game and we have fun,” said Cross, who was named captain of the team for the tournament – something that made her feel proud.
The U13C Mohawks went undefeated during their road to the finals. In their first game, on Friday November 29, they tied the Magog Cantonniers 1-1, with Watio Jacobs scoring one of his six goals in the tournament.

In the first of their two Saturday games, the Mohawks won via the mercy rule, defeating the Notre-Dame-de-Grace Jaguars 8-0. Memphis Mayo was in goal for the shutout, while Jacobs and Cross scored twice. Shako McComber, Roterihwaienni Goodleaf, Ioiewas Davey, and Craig Standup were the other Kahnawake scorers.
On Saturday afternoon, Kahnawake continued their high-scoring ways, winning 7-1 against the Vaudreuil Titans. John Charles, Lakelyn McComber, Goodleaf, Davey, Jacobs, and Standup were the goal scorers for Kahnawake.

That win punched their ticket to the semifinals, where they defeated the Dollard-des-Ormeaux Civics 3-1. Jacobs scored twice in that contest, with Goodleaf providing the other goal.

Horne said winning the semifinals and sharing the moment with his teammates was another of the highlights of the weekend for him.

In the gold medal game, the Mohawks faced off against the Chateauguay Chevaliers.

“The whole team was nervous,” said Horne of how he and his teammates felt before the game. Once the game started, though, they were focused and ready to play.

In contrast to the rest of the tournament, the game against Chateauguay was a very low-scoring affair.

Only one goal was scored, by the Chevaliers. That goal was the game winner in a 1-0 win for Chateauguay, giving them the gold and Kahnawake silver.

“I felt so bad for them. They were devastated that they lost,” said Lou Ann Stacey.

But she said that the coaches put the loss in perspective for the team: it’s one tournament, and there are more games to come – they should not harp on the loss.

"They were telling the kids, ‘We still have a lot more games to play. We're not done yet. We got a silver medal, and now, what do we learn from the tournament and use it for our season,’” said Stacey.

“They're learning in this tournament, and they are really developing them for playoff time, how they deal with the loss, and how they can come back into the next game, and they continue playing like a team who has really been developing and getting better and better since the start of the season.”

While both Horne and Cross were disappointed in coming up short in the finals, they were still happy with the result a few days after the fact.

“I feel good about our win, but I feel that our team could have gotten gold,” said Cross.

The U11C team did not have the same success. The team did not manage to win a game, but all three games played were close ones – two of their three losses were by a single goal.

The team opened its tournament on Friday with a 4-3 loss to the Repentigny Olympiques. Then, in the first of its Saturday matchups, the Mohawks were defeated 2-1 by the Lakeshore Jaguars, before being officially eliminated from the tournament after a 5-3 loss to the St. Laurent Titans that afternoon.

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