The NACI Tigers have won the 2013 MHSAA 'AA' Provincial Championship. NACI, who went into the tournament as the number one seed, defeated the host Carman Cougars 4-1 in the championship game to clinch the provincial title. “The guys got back together as a group, they really started to gel and they were playing having a lot of fun,” coach Mike Adams said. “This is a special group that's been able to repeat. Even in minor hockey this group was doing pretty good, and lots of them have played together for years now.” On Saturday in Carman, the Carman Cougars jumped out to a 1-0 lead less than five minutes into the championship game before Kyle McDonald, assisted by Garett Rempel, tied it at 1-1 with 40 seconds left in the period. Matthew Sneesby – assisted by Riley Kolesar, and Rempel, assisted by McDonald and Jesse Adams, each scored in the second period to extend NACI's lead to 3-1, while Rempel set up Adams to score an empty net goal with 2:27 left in the game to clinch the 4-1 win. Grant Graham made 30 saves to help lead NACI. In the semi-finals, the Tigers defeated the Deloraine/Hartney Colts 4-2. After a scoreless opening period, Brett McKinnon, Garett Rempel and Jesse Adams scored three in a row, while the Colts responded with a late second period goal, to leave NACI up 3-1 after 40 minutes. Rempel scored his second of the game shorthanded three minutes into the third period, while the Colts scored one more before the final buzzer to leave the score at 4-2 for NACI. Grant Graham made 17 saves for the win. “In both those games we started the first period pretty tight, and then later on we started to get our legs,” Adams said. “The team played great hockey.” In the round robin to start the tournament, the Tigers blew through their two opponents. NACI defeated the NDSW Mustangs 6-1 and Boissevain Broncos 7-3. Rempel led the tournament with eight goals and 11 points in four games played, while teammates Kyle McDonald (two goals, 10 points) and Jesse Adams (two goals, eight points) finished second and fourth in scoring. NACI won the 2012 Provincial Championship and earned a bronze medal at the 2011 event. The Tigers will now return to their WHSHL series against Dauphin where they trail the best-of-three series 1-0.