Over the last few days, the U14 Pionniers took part in an important tournament held in Victoriaville. A fixture on the calendar for several months, the sporting event represented an important moment in their season. The watchword? Perform and have fun as a group.

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In this tournament, Pionniers players took on three different teams: 

Match # 1 vs Édouard-Montpetit

In the curtain-raiser, the U14s failed to provide their section rivals with the opposition they had hoped for. Several elements of the game plan were not respected, particularly in defense. Despite the disappointment, there was no sense of panic among the group, who chose instead to focus on the games ahead. The 6-2 defeat was quickly forgotten.

Match #2 vs Alexander Galt

For this second match of the competition, the coaches had modified their line-up to bring a breath of fresh air to the team. Disappointed by his performance the previous day, Sasha Cuerrier bounced back from his head coach's wrath to be named Player of the Match. Compared to the previous day, Cuerrier was available to journalists after the match, and made the following statement: "The coaches were right to make that intervention with me.Their role is to make the best possible decisions for our team.I wasn't living up to my standards and those required of us. They gave me the chance and confidence I needed to bounce back, and I did." Veterans Noah Bernique, who is having a good time, and Léo Lepage (2) were the scorers. Jacob Richard, last night's Player of the Game, completed the scoring in an empty net to secure a 4-2 win for the home side.

Match #3 vs. Claretians

In this one-off match, the Pioneers had the tough task of facing the tournament's home team.With their pre-game preparations well underway, each player recognized the importance of the moment.Who better than team captain Emerick Traverse to put the Pioneers in the driver's seat.The tournament hosts responded with two quick goals before Gabriel Bonnier tied the game before the end of the first period.The Pioneers then had to endure some tough moments, with the U14s trailing 5-2 with 7 minutes to play.With many fans having left the amphitheatre, and taking advantage of a rare numerical advantage, coach Vincent Lemieux made a bold move by pulling his goalkeeper.The strategy worked as the Pionniers came back into the game, bringing the score to 5-4. Unable to complete the comeback that could have made history, the Pionniers had to give up and see their tournament come to an end.

In front of journalists curious to know the reasons why the coach had immediately withdrawn his goalkeeper, he replied: "As a coach, I'm very concerned to act as I ask the players to act and think. Believing in ourselves is one of our team's most important concepts, so it's imperative that I make decisions along these lines.I had the feeling that the players still believed in us, and I had to give them every possible chance of getting back into the game."