Atom B Lion sweep first playoff round
The South Dundas Atom B Lions hit the playoff ice full throttle last week putting up back-to-back shutout playoff wins and scoring 18 goals in the two matches.
The games were won against NGS by identical 9-0 scores, and both games were similar where the NGS goalie kept things close through the first period.
Then in the second and third periods of each, the Lions were able to capitalize on their chances and take charge of the outcomes.
The four point series opened in Morrisburg on February 17th.
The Lions led 2-0 after the first period thanks to goals by defencsemen Stefan Kronstal (assisted by Zach Scarbeau and Cam Shaver) and Nate Paulino, unassisted while the Lions were shorthanded.
The Lions scored another four goals in the second period to go up 6-0.
The first two were counted before the period was two minutes old by Monty Dejong (assisted by Alek Larocque and Jack McCann) and Cam Shaver (James Martens and Dryden Buter).
Spencer Barclay (assisted by Dejong) got his first of two with 5:43 left in the period and then struck unassisted with just 46 ticks left on the clock.
Sean Nicolaassen added a pair of his own in the third. He scored his first, at 8:55 assisted by Scarbeau and the other on a breakaway at 9:58 assisted by Kronstal.
Owen Patterson (Kronstal) got the final goal of the game to make it a 9-0 final.
Lions goaltenders Mateo Lacroix and Quade Mullin combined for the shutout. Captain Spencer Barclay led by example with strong forechecking and backchecking.
The Lions were on the road to Finch, on Saturday, February 21, for game two and their second consecutive 9-0 victory.
They got it rolling late in the first period when a Kronstal point shot bounced over McManus and laid in the crease until Nicolaassen banged it home.
Shaver scored with 46 seconds left in the opening period to make it 2-0.
McCann made a long stretch pass to Dejong who made it 3-0 early in the second, and Nicolaassen got his second with 4:43 left when he was stopped on his first shot but grabbed the puck from behind the net and executed the wraparound.
Shaver (assisted by Larocque) scored his second of the game at 3:48 of the third, and Patterson made it 6-0 at 4:42 assisted by Paulino.
Then a minute later, Patterson was the recipient of a beautiful backhand pass from Scarbeau to make it 7-0.
The Lions got two unassisted goals in the final five minutes of the game by Buter and Nicolaassen.
Once again Lacroix and Mullin shared the shutout to push their shutout run to 76 minutes and 28 seconds.
The South Dundas Atom B Lions now await the winner of the Char-Lan versus Akwesasne series which sits at three points each. They played the deciding game Last night (Tuesday) and details were not available at press time.