The hockey team, Étoiles de Beauval atom CC, only let in 3 goals in 5 games when they participated in the 11th novice/atom Hockey Tournament in Joliette/Crabtree last week-end.
As unbelievable as it seems, the young players with the Valleyfield, Beauharnois, Soulanges and Huntingdon Association were unable to put their hands on the champion banner.
The young, 9 and 10 year old hockey players were faced with the sad reality that sometimes there are difficult things to accept in sport. The Étoiles suffered their only defeat in the tournament finals when they lost 2-1 in overtime to the Sherbrooke team (2).
These protégés of head coach, Christian Brault, had to settle for the runner-up banner even though they only allowed in two goals during regulation time throughout the entire tournament. « It’s quite remarkable allowing so few goals to our opponents. There is extraordinary cooperation between the players, coaches and parents. We have a very special group this year, » emphasized Martin Lessard, assistant coach for the Étoiles.
During the five games played by the Beauval players, goalie Connor Boyle managed two shutouts and his partner, Justin Lessard also achieved a shutout victory. With the start on Friday at the Crabtree Arena, Mathieu Audet and Nathan Leduc scored in a 2-1 win against the Bataillon de Montmorency (HUM).
Saturday, at the Joliette Arena, Phillippe Herron scored the only goal of the game and Beauval won the « Star wars », 1-0, against the Étoiles (Stars) de l’Est (Montreal). Later on in the day at Crabtree, it was Justin Lessard’s turn to block all shots on goal for another 1-0 victory against the Bastions from Blainville and Rory Miller played a crucial role at the net.
Sunday, the Étoiles won hands down in the semi-finals and beat out the Bataillon de HUM (Hockey Unifié Montmorency), 4-0. The indomitable Connor Boyle was perfect and Loïk Leduc scored two of the goals. Alexi Watt and Arnaud Lefebvre scored the remaining two.
At the finals in Joliette, Alexi Watt put the Etoiles in first place with the help of William Lefebvre and Calvin Watt within 30 seconds of the second period. Their opponents from Sherbrooke , however, grabbed the victory from Beauval thanks to two goals from Yoan Gagnon at 11:38 in the 3rd period and in the 8th minute of overtime. Disappointing but at the same time rewarding for the Étoiles atom CC who should feel proud of their performance when they play in the Lanaudière region.
Translated by Cathleen Johnston
