Kurtis Barkley wins UC Open

 

With a showdown between the top two Atom B House teams in the eastern division of the Upper Canada Minor Hockey League on Saturday in Kemptville, the South Dundas Lions were looking to get the two points to leap frog over Kemptville 1 Panthers into first place. Unfortunately, after falling behind they gave it a good effort but ended up on the wrong side of a 3-2 count. 

South Dundas carried the play early. They spent the first two shifts in the Kemptville zone and opened the scoring just 1:23 into the game.  

Left winger Zach Scarbeau moved the puck into the Panthers corner.  Centre Spencer Barclay dug out the loose puck and passed in front of the net to right winger Monty Dejong who knocked in the first goal of the game for a 1-0 Lions lead.  

Play was back and forth, with the Panthers slowly regaining some of that momentum and starting to press for the equalizer.  

With 2:32 left in the first period, Kemptville got one by goaltender Quade Mullin to knot the game at one goal each.  

With 30 seconds left in the period, the Panthers made the rink a lot more uncomfortable with their second to take a 2-1 lead.  

Carrying that emotion, Kemptville went up 3-1 early in the second period with Mullin being injured on the play.

Goaltender Mateo Lacroix was forced to come into the game a few minutes early instead of the half way point, and try to hold the Panther attack at bay to give the Lions a chance to battle back. 

Less than a minute later, the Lions did answer with Spencer Barclay banging home the rebound after Owen Paterson rang one off the iron.  

This brought the Lions within one goal with lots of time left.  

Late in the second period the Lions had their opportunity with the Panthers short-handed two men with one of them being a five minute major.  However, the Kemptville penalty killers thwarted the Lions power play and they escaped with no damage.  

In the third period, the Lions ran out of gas, and they were not able to find the net again. The end result was a 3-2 loss which kept them in second place.  

The Lions next game is Tuesday night in Akwesasne and their next home game is January 25th, a rematch against the Panthers.  

Great seats are still available for this game – get your tickets early – you won’t want to miss it.

[…]

 

The Morrisburg Junior B Lions produced one win in three tries in exhibition action this past weekend, and coach Mark Evans says they are looking forward to the start of the season this coming weekend.

“It looked very good on the weekend,” says Evans. “We had a couple of break downs, but overall we are very happy with where the team is right now. We are more talented and have way more potential than last year. Things are really looking up.”

On the weekend, the Lions played in three exhibition games. They won Friday night against Akwesasne 3-0 and were handed two losses, 7-2 by the Brockville Tikis, Saturday and 5-1 by the Char-Lan Rebels, Sunday.

At this early stage Evans is not worried about the losses and says the Lions will be making good use of two practises on home ice (last night Tuesday, September 16 and tonight) to “go over our specialty teams. In  Junior B hockey you can really make a difference when you successfully kill penalties, as well as being successful on your power plays.”

The Lions have now signed eight returning veteran players. They are running with upwards of 12 first year players and have signed overagers (and all former Lions) Dallas Blacksmith, Justin Lefebvre and Michael Paquette.

Also back on a card is veteran goaltender John Gilmour, who kept in shape this summer playing in the newly formed CDHL development league for the Nepean Jr. A Raiders.

Gilmour is joined by newcomer Kieran Weir, an 18 year old goaltender from Ottawa who came up through the Ottawa West Golden Knights Minor Hockey and Ottawa Sting AA programs. Last year, Weir played for the West End Wolverines Major Midget A team and this past summer he played CDHL development league for the Ottawa Jr. A Senators.

The Lions have signed four, 16-year-olds to cards including defenceman Brody Barkley and defence/forward Cole Fowler, both from the South Dundas Minor Hockey system, forward Landon Veenstra from the South Stormont system and Jacob Kendrick a forward who comes from Ottawa. 

“We are going to be focussing on our systems and specialty teams this week, and see if we can’t start off the season on a good note,” says Evans.

The Lions open the 2014-15 season on the road this Friday night, September 19 when they travel to Alexandria to take on the Glens at 8 p.m.

They open their home season Saturday night, when their longtime rivals from the north, the Winchester Hawks come to town. Game time this Saturday night is 7:30 p.m. 

“We are looking to be very competitive this year,” says Evans.

[…]

 

Running on a cold, wet rainy day, on a slippery, wet, hilly course with a separated shoulder maybe isn’t the way Seaway High cross country runner Grant Wells planned to finish the 2014 season, but those were the condition and finish he did. 

Wells ran in the OFSAA Cross Country championship in Waterloo, Ontario on November 1st, where he placed 42nd in a race that included 251 runners from across Ontario. It was a huge accomplishment to end a hugely successful cross country season.

A grade nine student at Seaway District High School, Wells began cross country running last year when he was a grade 8 intermediate student at Seaway.

“Mr. [Robin] Gibbs needed someone for Seaway’s Grade 8 Intermediate boys team [last year], and he asked me. I never thought I would run cross-country, but I did and in my first meet in Brockville I got a seventh.”

Wells’ current high school midget coach, Lilace McIntyre explains that the Seaway’s Intermediate School team had only three boys for his age group last year. “So Mr. Gibbs dragged Grant out, and he finished better than the others who had been training.”

This past summer, Grant trained with Bob Tucker and the Brockville Legion Track and Field Club in Brockville. “They train half the season for track and half for cross-country. I went two days per week, and they really make you work. It gives you lots of exercise.”

McIntyre, who co-coaches Seaway’s X-Country team with Tracy Henderson and Sharon Last, says Grant by far led this year’s team. “We have about a dozen really committed runners, and we have some good talent. Grant was our most successful runner.”

The Seaway team did one meet per week during the Cross Country season, with Grant putting up some big finishes.

They included a win in midget boys at the St. Michael High School’s Turkey Trot in Kemptville on Thursday, October 9 and a win at the SD&G meet hosted by Holy Trinity in Cornwall on Wednesday, October 15th.

He ran to a second place finish in the Kingston Invitational, and placed sixth at EOSSAA  (October 23) to qualify for the  All-Ontario, 5 km OFSAA event in Waterloo, Ontario, last Saturday, November 1.

Just prior to heading to OFSAA, Wells separated his shoulder playing hockey. Despite the painful injury, he ran OFSAA and all was going really well until he slipped in some mud and fell on the injury.

“I finished it though. I figured it was better to finish than not to come in at all.”

Wells ran the difficult OFSAA course in Waterloo for a 42nd place finish with a time of 19:00.4. The course was very hilly and wet; the day was very wet and windy and it started with snow flurries in the morning.

Wells says he really enjoyed the cross country season. “It was really nice. I met runners from all areas in Eastern Ontario, and after awhile you get to know the competitors. OFSAA was a really good experience, and I hope to go there again.”

Grant runs daily and expects to continue training throughout the winter to prepare for the 2015 track and field season.

“If he continues to train, even just running on his own, we should be looking for a good track season and good results,” says MacIntyre.

[…]