Rangers down Lions in opening river rival game of the season

Third period wall stops Lions in their tracks – South Grenville Rangers’ goalie Mattix Scharf stopped 42 of 44 shots including 14 in the third period to block the Morrisburg Lions’ attempt to comeback from a two-goal deficit. The Lions lost to the Rangers 4-2. Pictured above, Morrisburg forward Justice Brownlee (right, #16) fires in another shot in the third period while Jack Clyne (left) and Olin Hutt (right) help Scharf out. The Lions are back on the ice in Westport October 20. (The Leader/Blancher photo)

MORRISBURG – Back-to-back goals by the South Grenville Rangers in the third period Saturday night sunk the Morrisburg Lions’ chances of extending their winning streak to three games.

The Jr. C Lions hosted their St. Lawrence River rivals, the Rangers, in the first of six match-ups this season.

The October 14 game was only the Lions’ second loss of the season, and the Rangers’ second win.

Justin Greene opened the scoring three minutes into the game for the Rangers. Less than three minutes later, Alex Bergeron levelled the game. Colin Stacey put South Grenville back into the lead midway through the first period.

Trailing 2-1 going into the second period, Ashton Adams tied the game for Morrisburg with less than nine minutes remaining on the clock. The teams were tied going into the third period.

Despite putting significant pressure on the Rangers’ defence, the Lions could not break through in the third period. Forward Vincent Busseau scored South Grenville’s go-ahead-goal just over six minutes into the period, while a Colin Stacey power-play goal at the 11 minute mark sealed the Lions’ fate. Morrisburg dropped their opening salvo of their season-series with South Grenville 4-2.

Smarting from that loss, the Lions travelled to St. Isidore October 15 to take on the Eagles returning with a lopsided result.

The Eagles made short work of the Lions’ defence putting four goals past the team in the first period.

Trailing 4-0, the Lions conceded a fifth goal before Bergeron (from Ben Lapier and Owen Fetterly) got the team on the scoreboard in the second period. St. Isidore fired off two more goals to take a commanding 7-1 lead in the game as the teams headed into the third period.

Four more goals were scored in the third period for St. Isidore, cementing an 11-1 loss for Morrisburg.

Earning no points this past weekend allowed two teams (Vankleek Hill and Cumberland) to catch Morrisburg in the league standings. The Lions dropped to third overall with 10 points. The team will travel to Westport October 20 to face the Rideaus before returning home for a Saturday night game against the Vankleek Hill Cougars.

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