Month: February 2015

The South Dundas Atom B Lions used a 4-1 victory over the Smith Falls Bears here Sunday, February 1, to reclaim their division’s first place standing.

The Lions continue to battle for the division’s top spot with Kemptville 1 who had pulled back into the lead by a single point early in the week.

Sunday’s win pushed the Lions ahead by a point.  Kemptville has 29 points with three games left while the Lions have 30 points and two games remaining.

The Lions got off to a poor start on Sunday against the Bears, and couldn’t get their feet moving until the second period.  

Smiths Falls opened the scoring on a partial breakaway 52 seconds in when Adam Hustins shot got passed Lions goaltender Mateo Lacroix.  

Three minutes later, the Lions were called for tripping. Zach Scarbeau and Owen Patterson did a good job killing it off along with the help of defencemen Jack McCaan and Alek Larocque to prevent the Bears from increasing their lead.

Smiths Falls had a glorious opportunity to go up 2-0 early in the second when it looked like a rebound was going to get hammered into the back of the net, but out of nowhere Lacroix put the paddle of his stick down to take a sure goal away. The big save served as the Lions wake-up call. 

Monty Dejong tied the game at 2:26 of the third period assisted by Sam Connors.  

Then, less than one minute later, Owen Patterson drew a Bears penalty with his heavy forecheck. 

At 2:47, Sean Nicolaassen made the Bears pay for taking that penalty, when he picked up the puck inside his blue line, blew past a defender at the red line and went in alone on Louis Legare. 

He faked a forehand, then went backhand to give the Lions their first lead at 2-1.  

Quade Mullin made two of several key saves during the third. 

The Spencer Barclay, Connors, and Dejong line used a good forecheck to put the Lions up 3-1 with 5:02 left on the clock.  They applied the pressure on the forecheck, Barclay grabbed a loose puck and then centered to Dejong who made no mistake.  

It looked like the Bears were finally going to solve Mullin late in the game,  during a scramble around the goal, but then out of nowhere defenceman Stefan Kronstal stacked his own pads, slid through the crease to make the save and knock the puck out of harms way.  

At just over one minute left, Cam Shaver passed the puck out front to a wide open Dryden Buter who scored the Lions fourth goal.

Next action for the South Sunda Atom B Lions is this Thursday, February 5, on the road to Akwesasne.

[…]

Our Little Rockers played host to a full slate of 12 Bantam curling teams on Sunday, February 1. 

In the early draw, the Winchester team emerged victorious, while curlers from Navan finished second. Our boys, Ewan Wilson, Nolan Belanger, Josh Broad and Jonathan Charette, were third by half a point, winning their last match with a draw to the button. North Grenville finished fourth, Prescott, who our fellows defeated in their first match, were fifth, and Cornwall placed sixth.

In the late draw, our girls, Jodie Robinson, Annika Gibbons, Abby Trizisky and Kyra Morris, were close in their matches, but couldn’t quite pull off victory against the older, more experienced bantam aged opposition. 

North Grenville came first in their division, Navan was second, and Glenmore, from the Montreal area, was third. Winchester placed fourth, Prescott was fifth, and they edged out our girls. Both of our teams played well, and are getting better each time out. Next year some of our players will graduate to the bantam division, and will be able to compete against the older players on an equal footing. 

Thanks again to the Wilson family, who coach and nurture these young curlers, with help from several of the parents, assistance that was noteworthy Sunday.

Our senior men hosted Brockville on Friday for a friendly bonspiel. Our three teams were: Don McMillan, Sam Locke, Al Gowanlock and Jim Adams, who won. The second team was Peter Zeran, Ron Beaupre, Eric Johnson and Glenn Cougler, who lost their match, and the third was Andy Patenaude, Doug Jarvis, and Don Lazenby, who won theirs. 

Last Wednesday, Alice Thompson, Sharon Van Allen, Linda Murphy and Sandra Beckstead were back at Kemptville for their Ladies’ Invitational. The morning match was a victory, as a Granite rink succumbed to Morrisburg’s skilled play. After lunch our folks returned to the five sheet rink and lost to a superior Russell foursome.

On January 23, two teams of senior men competed in the Prescott Parnell bonspiel. Jack Barkley, Raymond Benoit, Don McMillan and Neil Williams lost to Prescott, who won the competition. Pete Zeran, Andy Patenaude, Sam Locke and Earl Jeacle also lost both of their games. 

The final Parnell competition will be held later this month in Lancaster. Better luck this time, fellows.

Saturday, January 31, Morrisburg hosted their annual Alzheimer Bonspiel. With encouraging words and thanks from the Alzheimer representative, the teams in the competition launched their games. 

In the first draw, with wins in both their matches, the team of Andy Patenaude, Alice Thompson, Rick McKenzie and Sandra Beckstead emerged victorious and took home their prizes as the champions. In the second draw, Sam Locke, Penny Davidson, Dennis Thibault and Claire Locke won amidst some excellent competition.

The silent auction netted $1,000 for Alzheimer, and the entry fees and other initiatives upped the total for the day considerably. Thanks to Mahlon Locke for organizing the day, and to the other volunteers, who took care of lunch, the bar, and who helped Wally keep the ice in top shape. It was great to see the involvement by curlers from all leagues, as well as current and former curlers from all age groups.

Finally, members are reminded of the meeting at 7 p.m. February 16 to hear about an affordable plan to replace our aged refrigeration plant. 

See you there. Good curling to all!

[…]

Although the soccer fields in Iroquois are knee deep in snow, plans for this year’s Seaway Kickers Soccer program are well underway.

The first of two registrations for the Kickers program, with hopes this year to offer boys and girls teams in three age categories (U-13, U-16, U-18 ), is set for Saturday, March 7 from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. at the Iroquois Civic Centre.

Kickers president Phillip Blancher, says the organization “needs a bit more attention, to attract more players and volunteers.”

Last year 70 players played on four teams from U-13 to U-16.

In addition to attracting more players, Kickers is looking for at least one volunteer to serve as Head Referee on the board, several coaches (volunteer positions), at least four referees (paid positions) and volunteers to help with field maintenance (mowing-18 plus years and not a student, and lining fields).

This year’s registration is $140 per player ages U-13 to U18. The fee has been set to reflect the increase of Soccer Association fees and the elimination of the Kickers association providing players’ shorts and socks from the fee. 

The purchase of sweaters, socks and shorts will now be the responsibility of each players and arrangements have been made with Sports Fix in Morrisburg for ordering.

New this year is an affiliate membership which is available for $75 per player born in 2005.

The affiliate membership will allow the younger players (who are enrolled in the Saturday soccer program)  to practise with the U-13 Kickers team(s).

“This is a chance for them to learn the drills and gets their skill levels up,” explains Blancher. “There is no guarantee of playtime, but if players are needed for a game they can be called up. This will allow them to try it out and see if they are ready or want to play the more competitive Kickers soccer with the longer games.”

Blancher says the Kickers organization tries to have a minimum of 14 players per team. “That way if some of the kids have to work or if families are away, we are still able to field a enough players for a game.”

The Kickers League play involves travel to Ottawa and teams generally have one practice and one game per week. Home games are played on the same night each week and home and away games generally alternate on a weekly basis.

There are two special one day league events, one a festival at the end of June and the other a finale at the end of August.

Blancher points out that “we make sure everyone can play who wants to play.”

If there are financial considerations for any player, the Kickers Association is partnered with Canadian Tire’s Jumpstart and Upper Canada School Board’s Champions for Kids, for individual financial assistance.

“So if there are kids with needs, families can contact us privately.”

In addition to increasing the player numbers, Seaway Kickers Soccer is in need of referees and coaches

While the coaching positions are volunteers, referees are paid and Blancher says, it adds up to “a nice little chunk of pocket change.”

Referees must be a minimum of 14 years old and must complete a referees course. Once the course is completed and  he/she has refereed three games, the Kickers organization reimburses the cost of the course. Two day referee courses are held on a weekend in Ottawa. Re-certification is done on the computer and the Kickers also cover the cost of re-certification after three games.

“This is a provincial certification program, and we have had referees who continue to referee while at college to earn extra money.”

Blancher says the Kickers are in need of about four referees who must be 14 years and up to referee U-13 games and 16 and up to referee U-16 games.

With the hopes of fielding six teams, the Kickers are looking for a total of 12 coaches and coaches clinics are available through the Saturday soccer program.

The Kickers executive includes Blancher, Joanne Backes who is registrar/head coach and Donna Byvelds who is treasurer.

The open position is that of Head Referee to replace Lila Lapier who has stepped aside. The position mainly deals with scheduling.

“It would also be nice to have one or two other volunteers come on the board to provide extra help and to learn the ropes. The board structure is pretty easy going. I think we only met once last summer.”

The final need is for volunteers to help with field maintenance, both mowing and lining the fields. Mowing volunteers must be 18 plus years and can not be a student. Mowing requirements are from time to time needed in addition to that provided by the school board and the Township of South Dundas.

High school volunteer hours are available for most of the volunteer positions in the program.

Anyone who is interested in refereeing or in any of the volunteer positions is invited to call Phillip Blancher at 613-543-2168 or email him at phillip@blancher.ca for information.

Parents and players will also be given the opportunity to indicate their availability and volunteer interests on the registration forms. 

[…]

The regular season is coasting to a quiet ending in Eastern Ontario Junior B Hockey League action with three of the four playoff positions now locked in. 

The Morrisburg Lions are doing their part in providing some upsets, but a 5-4 win over the third place Hawks in Winchester, Friday night and a 6-5 overtime loss to the second place Alexandria Glens on home ice Saturday night, didn’t do much to affect the standings of either of the two.

The results of the two weekend games did help to add three points to the Lions season for 22 points with five games left to be played.

The Vikings command the St. Lawrence division with 66 points, while the Alexandria Glens and the Winchester Hawks are looking at second and third spots respectively for a meeting in the first round of playoffs. 

The Char–Lan Rebels are in fourth spot with 33 points, and the Akwesasne are five points back with 28. The Wolves continue to chase the Rebels for the fourth spot, but are now starting to run out of games.

Friday night’s game in Winchester was an easy going event with just four minor penalties assessed, two to each team and none in the third period.

The Lions charged onto the Winchester ice, and Alex Sifton got it started at 4:18 assisted by Michael Paquette.

Jacob Guillot (from Jacob Kendrick and Jordan Smail) made it 2-0 Lions at 15:13.

Then at 17:56 of the first period, Josh Stubbings put the Hawks on the scoreboard to tighten the gap to 2-1.

Just over three minutes into the second period, the Hawks Costa Georgitsos collected a short-handed goal to even the game, 2-2, and the tie held until early in the third period,  when Georgitsos struck again to put the Hawks ahead 3-2.

But the Lions came charging back.

Jacob Kendrick got is started with an unassisted goal at 3:19 of the third period to tie the game 3-3. Then it was over to Michael Paqeutte, (from Cole Fowler) who put the Lions up 4-3.

At 8:29, Landon Veenstra (Jacob Guillot) stretched it to 5-3.

Steve Ray Adams got one more for the Hawks to cut the gap to 5-4, but that was it. The Lions, with a solid performance from Brett Hahn in net, hung on for the 5-4 win.

In Morrisburg on Saturday night, the Glens went up 2-0 in the first period on goals by Bradley Gabbour and David Cyr.

Eric Evans (from Dakota Blacksmith) got one back at 14:49 of the second period, but at 16:07 the Glens recouped their two-goal advance with Gabbour’s second goal of the game against Hahn.

Jacob Guillot (from Ryan Griffin) brought the score to 3-2 on the Lions power play with just over two minutes left in the second period. 

The third period opened when Eric Evans, assisted by Jacob Guillot and Ryan Griffin, struck to tie it 3-3.

Then it was back to the Glens for another pair from Adam Cooke and Bradley Gabbour, but the Glens, couldn’t hold on to their 5-3 advantage. 

This time it was penalties that would prove costly to the Glens, as the Lions collected a pair of power play goals, from Tanner Hummel at 15:58 and Eric Evans at 17:48 to tie the game 5-5.

The tie held to force the overtime and the win went to the Glens with a Gabriel Cuillerier goal just 1:22 in.

A makeup game scheduled between the Lions and the Akwesasne Wolves last week was again postponed. This week the Lions are on the road for games against the Casselman Vikings and the Char-Lan Rebels.

The regular season wraps up for teams in the St. Lawrence Junior B division with the final games to be played Sunday, February 15.

[…]