CARDINAL – The Morrisburg Lions took their playoff season series to a fifth and deciding game but fell to the South Grenville Rangers 7-3 Wednesday night (March 2).
The Lions, who entered the playoffs having finished seventh in the modified regular season, had a 2-1 series lead however the Rangers tied the series on Sunday.
Penalties caused some trouble for both teams in the game, starting with Morrisburg. Aidan Bailey’s power play goal five minutes into the first period gave the Rangers a 1-0 the lead. He doubled his team’s lead nine minutes later.
Dean Lapier’s power play goal (from Jordan Serson and Jackson Thom) cut the Rangers’ lead in half with three minutes remaining in the period.
A tying goal in early in the second period for the Lions was disallowed. The Rangers added two goals late in the period to extend their lead to 4-1. First Noah Penney scored with three minutes left, followed by Jordan Poulin’s goal with less than a minute on the clock. The Lions trailed the Rangers 4-1 with 20 minutes remaining.
A shorthanded goal by Jonah Bennis (unassisted) with 10 minutes remaining put some wind in the sails of the Lions. The Rangers added two insurance goals at the five minute mark (Jacob McGonegal, Blake Byrnes) to increase the score to 6-2. A breakway by Landen Sinfield resulted in Morrisburg adding one more goal, but Byrnes added a power play goal in the final minute.
South Grenville defeated Morrisburg 7-3 and advance to the league playoff semi-final. The Rangers will take on the North Dundas Rockets, that series starts March 5 in Cardinal.
