The “International Truckload Services” Atom B Rep Lions travelled to Char Lan on December 1st to take on the undefeated Rebels who picked up their ninth win of the season with an 8-4 victory.
The first period was a disaster as the Lions lost every puck battle to the much hungrier Rebels.
The Rebels opened the scoring 52 seconds in when Colby Lauzon beat Quade Mullin and they stretched it to 2-0 with a Dylan Levac goal at the midway mark.
The Lions cut the gap to one when Sam Connors got his patented backhand on the net with Monty Dejong credited with the assist, but Watson restored the Rebels two-goal lead with 4:12 left. Eight seconds later, the Lions answered this time when Connors and Dejong teamed up.
Before the frame had ended however, Levac increased the lead to 4-2.
The second period was much more like “Lions” hockey.
The Lions started to win their share of puck battles but still struggled to get pucks on net.
With 2:58 left in the frame, Dejong (from Cooper McCooeye) got one on net as he roofed it on Tommy St. Louis, and the Lions skated into the third, down by just one goal.
The third was an even battle until the Rebels got two goals, one minute apart with less than five minutes left.
Cam Shaver, from Alek Larocque got the Lions to within two with just over a minute to go, and the Lions pulled Mullin for an extra attacker on the ensuing faceoff.
The Rebels collected an empty netter with 55 seconds left for the 8-4 win.
The Rebels are a perfect 9 and 0, having only given up just 13 goals in the process, six of them to the Lions in their two encounters.
The Lions “Game Champ” was Devon Honders, who played great defence, to keep the Rebels in the “bad ice” for most of the night while taking off on an offensive rush himself (which drew a penalty).
The Lions were in Brockville for a Braves tournament this past weekend, and opened against the Braves with a 4-3 loss. It was a tough tournament that resulted in the Lions losing game two to Gananoque 5-2 and Smiths Falls 5-2.
The Lions took a 2-0 first period lead against the Braves on goals from Cam Shaver and Sam Connors
Then as the saying goes “a 2-0 lead is the worst lead in hockey”, the Lions seemed to take the foot off the gas and the Braves scored two in the second to tie it.
The Lions regained the lead in the third on a Dejong goal from Honders and Shaver but the Braves tied it again and got the game winner with 5:45 left on the clock.
Defenceman Austin “Ozzy” Roy was awarded “the Hustler Award” for his great outlet passes and stellar defence.
The only Lion to show up for the second game against Gananoque was Mullin. Thanks to his efforts it was only a 5-2 defeat, making him an easy choice for “the Hustler Award”.
After some soul searching, the Lions faced undefeated Smiths Falls on Saturday for their third game, and although the final score was 5-2 in favour of the Bears, it didn’t tell the story of the spirited game.
The Bears went up 1-0 midway into the first period, but the Lions tied it on a beauty started by McCooeye and finished by Dejong after getting a return pass from Sam Connors.
The Lions had trouble getting the puck out of their end for a stretch in the second, and the Bears left the period with a 2-1 lead.
Dejong (from Connors) tied it early in the third and it stayed tied until the Bears got two quick goals with the clock showing 4:42 and 3:24 to go.
The Lions were able to apply pressure with Mullin on the bench for an extra attacker but the puck escaped the zone and an empty net goal was added with 35 seconds left for the 5-2 Bears win.
Terrence Mudde took home the Lions “Hustler Award” for his constant puck battles without taking a penalty and Quade Mullin took home the “Tournament Champ” award for his consistent and spirited play in goal.
Lions next game action will be at home this Saturday versus Brockville.
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