MORRISBURG – Through self-inflicted adversity, the Morrisburg Lions put their heads down and clawed their way back into the win column before the hometown crowd.
The Lions took a 1-0 lead early in the first period of their November 13 game against the visiting St. Isidore Eagles. Jonah Bennis’ unassisted goal was the sole scoring production by the team until the third period.
The Eagles tied the game in the second period and then took a 2-1 lead early in the third period.
Facing a pair of penalties, the Lions were playing five-on-three hockey.
“I had guys ready to go, and the energy was still positive even being down two players,” said Lions’ head coach Lance Hodgson about the hole the team had dug for themselves. “I put on Noelan [Spink] and there was a goal.”
Spink’s shorthanded and unassisted goal tied the game with nearly nine minutes left in the game.
“We still had a penalty to kill off. [Justice] Brownlee got in there, and we had the lead,” the coach said of the go-ahead shorthanded goal scored less than two minutes later. Morrisburg led St. Isidore 3-2.
Josh Broad set up Brownlee for an insurance goal on the Lions power play with less than four minutes remaining in the game.
“[The team] stuck together and pulled out a great win at home,” Hodgson said.
The Lions won 4-2 and with the two points moved back into seventh place in the league standings.
Hodgson said the team is still collecting too many penalties, but are now working harder to get themselves back out of trouble.
“We still have to work on not getting the penalties to begin with, but we’re getting there,” he said. “The big thing is the leadership on the ice and in the dressing room. That has been key to keeping things positive when we get down.”
The team travelled to Clarence Creek November 14 to take on one of the top teams in the National Capital Junior Hockey League, the Clarence Castors.
The Lions posted a 4-0 shutout loss to the Castors, but Hodgson didn’t characterize the loss as a negative.
“It was scoreless until the second period,” he said. “If you look at a lot of the games, they are not blow outs. It’s a loss but not like some other teams out there. We stay in the fight.”
Morrisburg will host two games this weekend for the team’s first back-to-back home stand this season.
On Saturday (November 20), the Lions host the Almonte Inferno. Puck drop is at 7:15 p.m. Then Sunday, it is a Dundas County battle as the high-flying North Dundas Rockets land in town. That game starts at 2:15 p.m.