In front of a packed house here last Tuesday, March 8, the South Dundas Novice C2 Lions put up their second straight victory over the Novice C1 Lions to win the (four-point) East Division championship series, five points to one.
It was a hockey series that packed the Morrisburg arena, and it was a hockey series that demonstrated some exceptional hockey, exceptional goaltending and good play making.
“Both teams played extremely well,” said C2 coach Justin Elliott. “There was solid goaltending at both ends of the ice. It was amazing to see the progress of every player on both South Dundas teams from the start of the season right up until the end of the year.”
“It was a fun series that brought a lot of fans to the Morrisburg rink. The future looks great for minor hockey in South Dundas.”
The four-point series opened Saturday, March 5, with a 2-2 tie. Then on Sunday, the C2s coached by Justin Elliott defeated Jason Martens C1 Lions, 6-0.
Last Tuesday night, March 8, Elliott’s Lions finished it off with a 4-1 win to claim the East Division Championship and the right to advance to the Upper Canada Minor Hockey League playoff final against the Smiths Falls Bears.
Elliotts C2s got a quick jump on the Martens C1 Lions going up 3-0 in the first period of Tuesday night’s third game.
The C1s scored their lone goal with 3:43 left in the second period when Jordan Lowe collected a pass from Henry Martens and beat C2 goaltender Owen Conlin with a low shot that caught the inside of the post on Conlin’s stick side.
That was the only success the C1 shooters had against Conlin who played a great series, giving up just three goals in three games.
Bryce Kirkwood got it rolling for the C2s early in the first period with an unassisted goal after he beat both of the McCooeye defenders to go in alone on C1 goaltender Rowan McCooeye.
Then with 2:05 left on the clock Charlie Chafe provided a pass to Addyson Lalonde-Thompson who skated the length of the ice for the first of two goals. The second was scored, unassisted, with just eight seconds left in the first period, to give the C2 Lions a 3-0 lead.
The second period saw the lone C1 goal scored by Lowe and huge saves from McCooeye particularly in the last minutes of play with the Whites enjoying a four on three power play.
A third period goal from Kaleb Morrow, assisted by Bryce Kirkwood, gave the C2s a 4-1 lead and put a recovery out of reach for the C1s.
Elliott and his coaching staff of Steven Morrow and Brian Shaver, trainer Bill Hoager and manager Allison Banford were extremely proud of the successful year the C2s had. That included their first place finish in the regular season.
“We had a very young group of kids,” says Elliott. “We only had two kids that played Novice hockey last year and 10 kids that moved up from Initiation. It was a great experience for Steve, Brian, Bill and myself to be able to teach these youth the game of hockey.”
The five point UCMHL championship series between the C2 Lions and Smiths Falls will kick off this coming Monday, March 21 in Smiths Falls at 6 p.m.
Games two and three are set for Morrisburg, on Tuesday, March 22 at 6 p.m. and Wednesday, March 23 at 7 p.m.
“Smith Falls doesn’t have the scoring power that the South Dundas C1s team had, but they have very stingy defence and work hard every shift,” says Elliott. “It should be a great series, and the kids are looking forward to it.”
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