New, era, Lions to lace up with National Capital Junior League

 

The Morrisburg Junior B Lions mixed it up with the Rideau Division this past weekend and when the play was finished they had picked up a pair of points.

In front of their home town fans on Friday night, the Lions put it together for a crushing 10-3 win over the Rideau division’s fifth place Brockville Tikis.

Sunday night, they were on the road to Athens to tackle the second place Aeros, but came out on the wrong side of a 5-2 final score.

“It was 3-2 at the end of the first period and we were coming on,” said Lions coach Thom Racine of the Athens game. “Then we gave up a soft goal early in the third period and we tanked. We just didn’t have anything in the third period which was sad because we had played so well in the first two periods.”

“We probably outplayed them in the first period, but we couldn’t score.”

The Aeros led 1-0 after the first period on a goal by J.P. Augustine.

They went up 3-0 in the second with goals added by Damian Levesque and Michael Byrne.

Then late in the frame, the Lions regrouped and came back for two to tighten the count to 3-2.

Chris Rutley got it rolling with help from Clarke Veenstra, and then with 25 second left on the clock Veenstra struck on the Lions power play.

Setting up the power-play counter were Michael Paquette and Marc Antoine Kamel.

It was less than two minutes into the third period when Kyle Mazerolle counted “the soft goal” and “we just died,” said Racine.

“We had a good intermission and felt good. Mik (goaltender Mikael Dion) was giving us good goaltending.”

As for Friday night’s win against the Brockville Tikis, Racine said, “It was a big night for us. Our power play was good and we got some short-handed goals. We weren’t really in any trouble all night.”

The Lions got it rolling with four consecutive first period goals. Less than two minutes in, Ryan Ward struck for goal number one from Sylvester Bzdyl and Alex Steingruber. Then Chris Rutley counted on the Lions power play at 7:46 from Sam Hodgson and Michel Lefebvre.

Two minutes later Brayden Girard (from Lance Hodgson) scored short handed for a 3-0 Lions advantage.

Bzdyl (from Matt Ouimet and Michael Keenan) finished off the Lions first period scoring, again while they were on the power play.

The Tikis got one against goaltender Mikael Dion, before the buzzer sounded to end the frame, from Jordan Sourwine.

Second period action was again dominated by the Lions with goals from Michael Poapst (from Rutley and Lefebvre), Michel Thurler (from Rutley and Lefebvre) and Ryan Ward (from Steingruber and Michael Keenan).

The Lions led 7-3 heading into the third where another three unanswered third period goals gave them the 10-3 win, their eighth of the season.

Scoring this period were Lefebvre (from Rutley and Poapst), Ward (from Michael Paquette and Steingruber) and Brayden Girard (from Kamel and Lance Hodgson).

The Lions out shot the Tikis 44-41 and scored two power play goals in eight opportunities.

Coming up this week, “we have a huge game against Akwesasne,” says Racine. “Akwesasne always plays tough in our barn.”

The Wolves are in town this Friday night, December 16. Game time is 8:30 p.m.

Then on Saturday night, the Lions are on the road to Westport to take on the Rideau Division’s first place Rideaus.

The Lions are currently in the St. Lawrence Division’s fifth spot, five points back of the Char-Lan Rebels. 

This past weekend the Rebels picked up a single point in an overtime loss (shoot out) to Westport. They lost 7-5 to Athens on Saturday night.

“We gained a point on the Rebels on the weekend to keep pace and are now six points ahead of Akwesasne,” says Racine.

Racine says that with school exams now over he is expecting to ice a full squad this weekend, a welcome change for the Lions.

[…]

 

The stands were empty for the annual general meeting of the South Dundas Minor Hockey Association held at the Morrisburg Golf Club, last Tuesday, April 07.

“The attendance tonight is not very good, and I’m happy to say it is likely because we have no issues,” said minor hockey president David Lapier.

With just a couple of interested parents joining the eight executive members on hand, the various reports were wrapped up quickly, and the South Dundas Minor Hockey Association executive for the upcoming 2015/16 season was elected.

David Lapier was returned as president and Jeff VanMoorsel remains past president. Mike Domanko remained first vice-president and will also handle the duties of the Head Coach position.

Jamie Smith was returned as second vice, Johanna Kronstal as secretary, Mike Barclay as treasurer and John Connors as equipment manager.

Also returned were Matt McCooeye as Electronics Communication Coordinator, Lisa Swerdtfeger as Referee-in-Chief and Jason Broad as Ice Scheduler.

Cassandra Barry was returned as Rules and Discipline Coordinator and will also fill the Registrar position which she held for many years. Barry is replacing Jennifer Veldhoven-Lyle who is leaving the area.

The new face to the board is that of Kristy Connors who is taking over the position of fundraising coordinator from Joanne Backes, who, after several seasons, is retiring.

“Overall, we had an excellent year,” said Lapier. “We had three league champs, three playoff champs, and the peewee Bs won the whole league. We also had three sportsmanship awards which I am very proud of.”

Inhouse Skating and Coaching Clinics and Goalie in the Net Vouchers were both new this year and both were well-received.

Lapier thanked the executive for their hard work and commitment throughout the season. “If you have good people then all runs well.”

“Jason [Broad] did an excellent job handling the ice scheduling again this year. He has it right down to the minute and everyone is getting equal ice time. We had no issues with our referees, and the IP program is in very good hands. The guys are doing a great job with it. They are very detailed, and it is very well done. We also had minimal parent problems this year.”

New for the association was the purchase of a goaltender net target for practise. This was augmented by the loan of Lapier’s privately owned net. “They were very well received because a lot of our teams only have one goalie, and it’s better to have something there in the net at the practises.”

Also new and successful was a player exchange with the North Dundas Minor Hockey Association. This exchange, which saw two players come to South Dundas and four players go to North Dundas, enabled the Morrisburg Association to ice a Bantam Rep team and North Dundas to ice a Minor Midget team.

“It worked very well,” said Lapier. “We’ll both always maintain our house levels, but our associations don’t have the numbers to make us strong enough to ice rep teams. It was excellent, and hopefully we will be able to build on it, in the future.”

Referee in chief, Lisa Swerdtfeger reported, “a good year. I think it went well. I’ll be contacting everyone to see who will be coming back and will probably look at getting at least three more.”

“I think we have the most consistent quality referees of anywhere,” said Lapier. “I think the South Dundas referees are the best in the area.”

“It is great that we have a level five referee who is willing to be a linesman for a Novice C game,” noted Mike Domanko.

Treasurer Mike Barclay reported the association was down about $6,000 in revenue, mainly because there were fewer players. With all ice and referee bills paid, and only a few banners yet to be purchased, Barclay stated it is likely the association will end the year with a surplus of $3-4,000.

There were 191 minor hockey players this year, down three kids from the year before. 

Because of the small surplus and the association’s diligence in keep a good financial safety net, Barclay said it would not be necessary to increase fees for the 2015-16 hockey season.

The Association’s main revenue is from registrations which this year totalled $75, 334. The annual fundraising lottery draw brought in $38,200 and Lions Day raised $1,209. Donations to the minor hockey organization totaled $2,650.

Major expenses were: ice rental at $74,661; Referee pay of $16,092; Insurance for team officials and players $8,914; $8,018 for Lottery prizes and licencing; League Fees $2,090.

[…]

 

The South Dundas Soccer Association is pleased to announce that Morrisburg Home Hardware has signed as season sponsor for the 2013 Saturday Soccer Program. 

Morrisburg Home Hardware’s sponsorship covers the U11 Intermediate, U13 Senior, U15 Bantam and U19 Midget soccer divisions.

“We’re pleased to be sponsoring South Dundas Soccer this year,” said Dwayne and Lloya Sprague, owners of Morrisburg Home Hardware. “With so many kids involved, this is a great way for us to give back to the community and make a real difference.”

The 2013 Season has over 450 youth, ages 5-18, registered for a total of 34 teams and six divisions.

“Corporate support like this is extremely important to programs like the one offered by the South Dundas Soccer Association,” said Phillip Blancher, association vice-president and communications director.

[…]