Morrisburg Lions exit weekend with two ‘L’s

Lions drop points against Rangers and Hull-Volant – South Grenville Rangers forward Ben Pilon (right, #81) scored this power-play goal on Morrisburg Lions goalie Nick Lyon with 26 seconds remaining in the first period. The Rangers doubled the Lions 4-2 Saturday night in Morrisburg. The Lions were shut out 7-0 Sunday in Gatineau. (The Leader/Blancher photo)

MORRISBURG – A pair of losses over the weekend extended the Morrisburg Lions’ losing skid to four games. The team hosted the South Grenville Rangers October 5, and visited defending league champions, the Gatineau Hull-Volant the following day.

Morrisburg got off to a very slow start during Saturday’s game against South Grenville. After nearly 20 minutes of back-and-forth hockey with both teams bouncing the puck off the board glass rather than the net, Rangers’ forward Noah Penney scored on a power-play. Morrisburg trailed South Grenville 1-0 as the teams entered the second period.

Former Lion Ben Pilon doubled the Rangers’ lead five minutes into the second period. A fight between South Grenville’s Zach Nixon and Morrisburg’s Bennet Harty fired up both benches. Lions’ captain Ben Lapier capitalized first scoring on Rangers goalie Carter Overhoff (from Bradley Greggain and Callum Stevenson.) The Lions continued to trail the Rangers 2-1.

The wheels fell off in the third period as Penney and Gabriel Couture each scored for South Grenville less than a minute apart.

South Grenville Rangers goalie Carter Overhoff looks on as teammate Zach Nixon and Morrisburg Lions’ defenceman Bennet Harty fight while three officials try to pull the players apart in the second period of the October 5 game. (The Leader/Blancher photo)

Another fight, this time between Stevenson (Morrisburg) and Cole Michalicka (South Grenville), saw both players bounced from the game with just over five minutes left to play.

Morrisburg’s Shamus McDonald scored an unassisted goal 20 seconds after play resumed, but it was too little, too late as the Lions fell 4-2. The two teams tied penalty minutes, earning 42 minutes each.

The trek to Gatineau did not fare any better for Morrisburg. Already short players due to injury (Kayne McCadden, Jordan Elliott, Hudson Fetterly), and suspension, Morrisburg was playing with a short bench against last season’s champions.

Gatineau scored three goals in the first period, and three more in the second period. The Hull-Volant scored a seventh and final goal in the third period, shutting out the Lions 7-0.

Since winning their opening game of the season September 21, the Lions have found the net just six times in four games, while being scored on 26 times over the same time period.

Morrisburg has two opportunities to break their losing streak this weekend as they take on the high-flying Metcalfe Jets (3-2-0) October 12 at home, and the basement dwelling St. Isidore Eagles (1-4-0) October 13 on the road.