Junior B Lions looking for a good start

Local boxer, Phil Hoftyzer was awarded a unanimous three-round decision at a Friday, February 24 fight in Ottawa against Brutus Payente of Gatineau, Quebec.

A member of the Champs Eastside Boxing Club in Cornwall, Hoftyzer fought in a men’s open class light heavyweight match.

A Boxing Ontario sanctioned event, Fight Night in the Capital 4, was hosted by the Beaver Boxing Club.

The three rounds were action packed with Hoftyzer having the higher punch output for the unanimous decision.

The bout was also voted the best of the evening.

The momentum of the fight went back and forth with Hoftyzer gaining an edge with high pressure and volume  punching.

“He was quite a bit bigger than me, so my fight plan was high pressure,” said Hoftyzer who was 175 pounds to Payente’s 182. “I thought the fight would be a bit easier than it was. But the harder I fought, the harder he came back.”

Hoftyzer trains three days per week at the Champs club in Cornwall and works out at home in Morrisburg another two nights per week. 

He is coached by Jorge Luis and stats listed on the club website show Hoftyzer as an Active Amateur Boxer with 20 fights with 12 wins and eight losses.

Last year he laid off the sport, but this year is back and going hard.

Hoftyzer who comes from the Iroquois area, first took up boxing when he was a student at Seaway District High School.

After school, he served in the Canadian Armed forces for three years.

In 2009, at the age of 23 he won the Ontario Novice Light-heavy Weight division. In the same year, he won a bronze medal at the Open Provincial Boxing Championship.

Hoftyzer now lives in Morrisburg and works in construction.

In other local boxing news, pro boxer Tony Luis, 13-0 with five knockouts and holder of the WBC Continental Americas Light Welterweight Belt, will be in action on April 7th in Montreal at the Claude-Robillard Centre.

Tickets and bus transportation for local fans can be arranged by calling 613-360-5944. Tony, the son of Jorge Luis at the Cornwall Champs club, will box an eight or 10 rounder against one of the leading contenders in his weight class.

Coming up on April 14th at the Best Western Parkway Inn in Cornwall, Champs will host their 2nd annual Knock Out Poverty event. Hoftyzer will be fighting as the main event in this fund raiser for the Agapé Centre.

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The Morrisburg Golf Course opened this past Friday, April 17, and is in great shape. The greens wintered well, and the whole course is benefitting from this week’s rain. 

The food operation at the club gets underway this Friday night, April 24 with the first Friday night wing night (and other food specials).

The ladies can get out their clubs and shine them up for the first ladies night scheduled for next Wednesday night, April 29. The first men’s night is set for April 30. There are no sponsors for the two nights and members and guests are invited to come out, get in some play and enjoy some camaraderie.

The clubhouse is now open and those wanting to sign up for their memberships can stop by.

The first major club event of the season is the Home Hardware sponsored mixed two-ball tournament on Saturday, June 6. Lots of time to get the game together.

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In the last week, the Morrisburg Junior B Lions have been giving their fans something to talk about as they went to work to win three in a row, one of which was against the undefeated St. Lawrence Division, first place Casselman Vikings.

The Lions kicked off their three-game streak, the first in many seasons, on home ice Saturday, October 18, when they disposed of the Westport Rideaus by a 13-6 score.

Then it was off to Casselman last Thursday, October 3, when the Lions did what no other team has managed so far this season…collect points from the Vikings in a 2-1 overtime, shoot-out victory.

They posted win number three on home ice Saturday night, when, with Keiran Weir unbeatable in net, they blanked the Brockville Tikis, 5-0.

They were stopped by a 4-3 loss from the Akwesasne Wolves Sunday, on Cornwall Island.

“It felt very exhilarating,” said coach Mark Evans of the win over Casselman last Thursday night. “The boys were ecstatic. They knew all their hard work had come down to that. They stuck to the game plan, blocked up the lanes, and when they got into trouble they played smart.”

“There was some really great goaltending at both ends of the ice (Gianmarco De Meis was in net for the Vikings), and it was a good game of hockey to watch. It was really good to see the kids rewarded for their hard work.”

All of the game scoring took place in the second period with Maxime Choquette putting the Vikings on the board just 3:25 in. At 5:09, Jacob Kendrick with help from Landon Veenstra, struck for the Lions to even it and that’s the way it stayed, tied 1-1 through regulation play.

After a scoreless overtime, the game went to a shootout for a decision. 

Dallas Blacksmith was first up for the Lions, and his success was cancelled by Grant Hebert. 

Michael Paquette then counted for the Lions and when Sebastien Plante was unsuccessful in his attempt against Keir, the Lions were in the driver’s seat.

However the goaltenders had it covered. Neither Jacob Kendrick for the Lions nor Taylor Widenmaier was successful, and the Lions picked up two points for the 2-1 shutout win.

Back home on Saturday night, with Weir again in net, the Lions pounced quickly on the visiting Westport Rideaus. They went up 2-0 in the first period, and led 4-0 after two as they worked their way to the 5-0 victory.

Michael Paquette (from Justin Rutley and Jordan Smail) and Cole Fowler (from Cole Beckstead) provided the Lions first period goals.

In the second period, it was Landon Veenstra (from Dallas Blacksmith) and Jacob Guillot (from Ryan Griffin and Dylan Nixon).

Their final goal was scored on their power play, by Dallas Blacksmith, with help from Cole Beckstead and Jacob Kendrick. 

“Keiran played two stellar games,” said Evans. “It was good to see, and it was great for him to get back-to-back wins.”

Sunday, the Lions winning streak was ended by the Akwesasne Wolves, 4-3. 

“We were asleep at the switch. We weren’t ready to go,” said Evans. “The effort and intensity wasn’t there, especially in the first period.” 

In the first period, the Wolves went up 3-0 on two goals by Zack Seguin and one from Derik Dionne.

The Lions got one back on their power play at 16:36 of the second period from Brodie Barkley, assisted by Cole Blanchard and Jacob Kendrick.

Then just 1:18 into the third period they cut the gap to 3-2 with a Dallas Blacksmith counter assisted by Jacob Kendrick and Tanner Hummel.

Six seconds later, Isaac Barr beat Lions goaltender John Bilmer to again give the Wolves a two-goal edge.

Some intense play followed, but the Lions ran up against a hot Cory Garrow and managed only one more from Zack Renfrew, assisted by Curtis Evans and Ryan Griffin.

“It’s all about being ready to start,” said Evans. “We almost did it (recovered) but we ran into their hot goalie. He’s solid, and they had only 36 goals against going into the game. When they get three or four goals against you, you are going to have your work cut out against him to get back into it.”

Despite the loss, Evans says the Lions are “happy with the progress, but we are not resting on our laurels. We need to keep working and to tighten up our defence. Your offense will win you games, but your defence will win you championships. We should be looking at two to three goals against per game.”

The three win run, helps to pull the Lions up in the St. Lawrence Division standings. They remain in fifth place in the six team division with 10 points, just two back of the Winchester Hawks and Akwesasne Wolves tied with 12.  Both the Hawks and Wolves have two games in hand over the Lions.

The Alexandria Glens are in the division’s second spot with 13 points, and the Casselman Vikings top the chart at 19 points with nine wins and the shoot out loss to the Lions.

Coming up the Lions are in Winchester against the Hawks  Saturday night, November 1.

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