The 19th Hole

The South

Dundas Bantam B Rep Lions collected the East Division Championshipon home ice last Thursday,

March 12, with a 4-1 victory over the Cornwall Colts. The win gave the Lions the

East Division Championship series four points to two.

The regular season first place Lions had all they could handle against the Colts who finished the year with just nine wins and four ties for 22 points and the division’s fifth place standing.

The Lions were 17-3-4 over the regular season to win first place. They earned a first-round playoff bye and then defeated South Stormont in the semi-finals in three games (4-1 win, 5-5 tie, 3-0 win).

The Colts defeated NGS (second place in the regular season) in semi-final play to advance to the

championship against the Lions. The Lions got off to a slow start in the championship series losing the opening game Saturday, March 7, on home ice, 4-1.

They regrouped in Cornwall to stay alive in the series witha 5-1 win March 8, and thenbrought their game home to claimthe championship on ThursdayMarch 12, with the 4-1 win.

Game three in Morrisburg gotstarted with a scoreless first period.The Lions opened the scoringat 4:53 of the second period on agoal by Travis McInnis (assistedby Justin Shay), but that didn’tlast long as the Colts chargedback for a goal at 7:12 to tie it.

The Lions turned it up a coupleof notches in the third to count threeunanswered goals for the 4-1 win.Dean Lapier connected forwhat would be the winner at 9:54with help from Caleb Jaquemetand at 12:07 Justin Shay (assistedby Jonah Bennis and Travis Mc-Innis) stretched it to 3-1.

Lucas Bennis (from AdamLapier and Jaquemet) counted theLions final goal with 4:55 left onthe clock.

The Lions had a dismal showingin the March 7 series opener in Morrisburg. After a scoreless

first period, the Colts took a 2-0 lead before Kasper Furo put the

Lions on the scoreboard in the second period.Dean Lapier and Travis McInnisprovided the assists.

The third period belonged to the Colts who struck for two unanswered goals for the 4-1 win.

The Lions regrouped for game two in Cornwall, on March 8, tocome up with a 5-1 victory and stretch the four-point series to the third game.

Again there was no scoring inthe first period. Lucas Bennis (from Oakley Beavers) put the Lions on the scoreboard, 4:58 into the second period, but the Colts charged back one minute later to tie it.

With two minutes remainingin the second, Jonah Bennis gave the Lions a 2-1 lead.

The Lions momentum continued and resulted in three unanswered third period goals and the 5-1 win.

Scoring were Caleb Jaquemet (from Shay), Oakley Beavers (from Lucas Bennis and AdamLapier), and Shay (from Beavers and Lapier).

Next up for the Lions is theUpper Canada Minor Hockey League’s five-points championship series against the South

Grenville Rangers. Game one will be played in Prescott, Sunday,March 22 beginning at 6 p.m.Game two will be back in Morrisburg on Monday, March 23, startingat 8 p.m.

The Rangers were first in thewest division regular season, with17 wins, just one loss and four

ties They defeated Perth to winthe West Division championship and advance to the UCMHL finalagainst the Lions.

[…]

The Ontario Senior Games curling division, the Zone 8 Playdowns were held at our club over the weekend. Four teams, one from Winchester, one from Alexandria and two from Morrisburg, competed. 

In the Saturday morning game, Morrisburg’s Andy Patenaude, Sue McIntosh, Neil Williams and Betty Locke defeated Alexandria’s Brian and Joy Clinton, Bob Youmelle (who filled in for an ailing Graham Vickers) and Linda Vickers. 

In their first, our other Morrisburg team, Raymond Benoit, Cheryl Thompson, Pete Zeran and Ruth Kelly played Winchester’s Gary Price, Janet Thompson, Don McMillan and Ann Cook. Winchester, which has been to the provincial finals on several occasions, prevailed.

In their second matches, our two Morrisburg teams met in the round robin, while the Winchester and Alexandria foursomes squared off. Alexandria upset Winchester, while Raymond Benoit’s foursome won out over Andy Patenaude. This left the four teams with identical win/loss records, and set the stage for Sunday morning’s final round robin games.

In case of a tie, the gold, silver and bronze medal winners were to be determined by wins against opponents, ends, etc. 

Graham Vickers was back in the mix for Alexandria, so our “Bad Bob” Youmelle retired with thanks from “his” team. The matches were hard-fought, with some crucial missed shots from all teams.

Winchester’s Price rink managed to eke out a win over our Patenaude foursome, while Alexandria defeated the Raymond Benoit quartet, also from our club. This set the statisticians to work, and they awarded the gold medals to Alexandria, because of their win over Winchester, who took silver. 

Raymond Benoit, Cheryl Thompson, Pete Zeran and Ruth Kelly, because of their win over Andy Patenaude, Sue McIntosh, Neil Williams and Betty Locke in the round robin, earned bronze medals.

Special thanks to Monique Patenaude, the Zone 8 coordinator for the Ontario Sr. Games. She watched over the stats, presented medals, and with her committee, put on a fine lunch on Saturday for the curlers. 

All Ontario residents 55 and over are eligible to compete in the games. Winter games in the near future are in Billiards, Pickleball, Duplicate Bridge, Skating, Nordic Skiing (Prediction and Time Trials), and Alpine Skiing. Categories and further details are available from www.ontarioseniorgames.ca.>>District>>8.

In other news, a correction: in last week’s Winchester bonspiel, Sid Morrell had Bud Perry with him and not Andy Patenaude. With Neil Williams and Don O’Brien, the fellows won both of their matches in Winchester and finished second on the day.

In another correction, in the first of the season’s Parnells last week, Lancaster was the champion team. The next match will be held in Cornwall on January 3. For this one we are allowed two teams, so playoffs, if needed, will be held this month to determine our finalists.

In the Alzheimer Society bonspiel last Saturday, curlers, along with Scotiabank, raised $4,280. In the late draw, the winners were Sam Locke, Greta McGann, Dave McIntosh and Linda Murphy. It was a great bonspiel for a worthy cause. Thanks to all who made it such a success.

Congratulations again to the club’s little rockers, who competed last Saturday in the Kemptville Bonspiel, and whose results were covered last week. 

Good curling to all!

[…]

A Josh Maley goal for the hosting Athens Aeros here Sunday night with just 2:24 left in the game, sent the Morrisburg Junior B Lions home with a tough 4-3 loss. 

The Lions who are in last place in the St. Lawrence Division and the Aeros who hold the same spot in their Rideau Division were evenly matched throughout the game. The Lions put up 25 shots against Aeros goaltender Alex Daley and the Aeros produced 31 shots against Lions goaltender John Gilmer.

The Lions held a slight 2-1 edge after the first period, and the game was tied after two.

It was the Maley goal at 17:36 of the third period that was the difference.

Parker Grant opened the Aeros scoring at 4:13 of the first period, but the Lions came charging back with a Justin Lefebvre goal (from Cole Fowler) at 9:10 to even it.

Dallas Blacksmith struck (with help from Landon Veenstra and Eric Evans) at 15:38 of the first period to put the Lions ahead, 2-1, going into the second period.

Play was tight for the first 14 minutes of the second period, and then the Aeros came on strong to first tie it with a Nathan Foster goal at 14:06 and, then, 25 seconds later go ahead, 3-2, with a Ty Hannaford goal.

The Lions evened it on their power play at 16:56, with Evans getting the goal which set up by Dallas Blacksmith and Michael Paquette.

Third period action saw no results in the scoring department until Maley counted what would turn out to be the winner for the Aeros at 17:36.

The Lions sat out 22 minutes in penalties on seven infractions, and the Aeros were assessed five infractions for a total of 10 penalty minutes. The Lions were successful in one of three power-play opportunities while the Aeros did not score on their power play in six opportunities. 

Coming up, the Lions are on the road to play the Char-Lan Rebels on Saturday night, December 20. Then on Sunday, December 21 they will host the Akwesasne Wolves. Game time is 2:30 p.m.

The Wolves are in fourth place in the St. Lawrence Division with 23 points, while Char-Lan is fifth with 17 points. The Lions have 14 points.

The Casselman Vikings have pulled well away from the rest of the St. Lawrence division with 45 points, while the Alexandria Glens are in second spot with 27 points and the Winchester Hawks are right on their heels with 26. 

[…]