Notre-Dame boys win first-ever Division I hockey crown

There would be no magical comeback necessary in Game 3.

Capping off their sweep of the St. Charles College Cardinals with a 7-2 win Wednesday night in Lively, the Collège Notre-Dame Alouettes were the better team, from start to finish, in the grand finale.

League MVP Nick Marion sparked the CND offence with a hat trick, with Christian Larivière potting two more for the Alouettes, who made school history by walking away with the Division I boys hockey crown, the first Notre Dame team ever to turn the trick.

Sebastien Desormeaux and Kevin Vaillancourt rounded out the scoring for the winners, with Bryceton Lalonde netting the only two goals for the Cards.

CND netminder Alexandre Rheault was named Playoff MVP, backstopping his team to a championship that few would have ever envisioned when the Notre-Dame lads reappeared in the SDSSAA boys hockey loop last fall after an absence of a handful of years.

"We were hoping to maybe get third or fourth place," acknowledged Rheault. "We weren't expecting anything like this. But after a few games, we were winning by big scores, we started to believe. We played well as a team, everyone showed up."

And after overcoming 3-0 deficits in earning 4-3 wins in both Game 1 and 2, the 18-year-old puckstopper bestowed some extra praise upon coaches Don Desormeaux and Mike Marion.

"Between periods, they would always tell us just to keep our composure and not let up," said Rheault. "We never gave up."

By virtue of meeting in the city finals, both teams will head to NOSSA competition next week.

The Alouettes will travel to Sault Ste. Marie, site of the A/AA playdowns, while the Cardinals enjoy a shorter trek to North Bay, competing in the AAA/AAAA tournament.

Meanwhile, the SDSSAA Division II boys hockey crown will be settled next week, as the St. Benedict Bears and Espanola Spartans tangle in a best two of three series that kicks off Monday evening at 7 p.m. at the Carmichael Arena.