CARDINAL – So far in this playoff series, neither the South Grenville Rangers or the Gatineau Hull-Volant can maintain the lead in their playoff series. The two teams met over the weekend in games three and four of the National Capital Junior Hockey League’s playoff semi-finals. South Grenville and Gatineau entered the weekend tied 1-1 in the series.
Gatineau took an early lead in the March 17 game three at home in Gatineau. The team added two more goals against South Grenville, scoring at the six and 15 minute marks to take a 3-0 lead.
A minute into the second period, the Hull-Volant added another goal to the pile to make it 4-0 Gatineau.
Goals from Cole Michalicka in the second period, and Colin Stacey in the third period, kept the Rangers alive, but an empty net goal by the Hull-Volant let the wind out of any comeback. The Rangers fell to the Hull-Volant 5-2.
South Grenville bounced back from that loss to inflict a 4-1 win on Gatineau Sunday night (March 19) in Cardinal.
Noah Penney began the Rangers scoring midway through the first period on a power play. Cooper Rogers and Jacob McGonegal had assists in the goal. Connor VanLuit (from Penney) doubled the Rangers lead in the final minutes of the period. South Grenville led Gatineau 2-0.
Scoring in the second period has been a challenge for the Rangers all season and into the playoffs. Team captain Nate Medaglia (from Ethan Wooller and Aidan Bailey) responded to that challenge with four minutes remaining in the period, scoring on another power play. Rangers led 3-0.
NCJHL scoring champ Étienne Champagne scored midway through the third period to get the Hull-Volant on the scoreboard. The Rangers added an insurance goal thanks to Stacey (from McGonegal and Cole Jelly), resulting in a 4-1 win for South Grenville.
The playoff series will be decided this coming weekend. The teams play game five in Cardinal March 23 at 7:30 p.m. Game six returns to Gatineau March 25. If needed, the deciding game seven of the series will be played in Cardinal on March 26. No game time has yet been set.