MORRISBURG – Ending November on a high note, the Morrisburg Lions climbed out of the league basement with a 7-4 win over the South Grenville Rangers November 30.
Josh Broad opened the night’s scoring midway through the first period, set up by Monty DeJong and newcomer Sean Joncas. That goal was followed seven minutes later by Lukas Rozon’s power-play goal (from Ben Lapier and Aidan Todd), giving Morrisburg a 2-0 lead. South Grenville pulled one back seconds into a power-play of their own, cutting Morrisburg’s lead in half.
A breakaway goal by Ashton Adams early in the second period restored the Lions’ two goal lead. The team got into some penalty trouble in the middle of the period. In two minutes, the Rangers scored twice, split by Lapier’s short-handed goal (Callum Stevenson and Bennett Harty). The Lions continued to lead the Rangers 4-3. A late goal by Jake Horan, his second of the night, tied the game 4-4 going into the third period.
Having settled down from the second period, the Lions put up three goals in the third to win the game. First up was Rozon’s goal (from Lapier and Stevenson) five minutes in. Owen McMillan went end for end, collecting the puck from goalie Nick Lyon and scoring short handed with nine minutes left on the clock. Rozon completed his hat-trick for the night with less than four minutes remaining. Adams and Lapier had the helpers in the final goal of the game. Lions won 7-4.
Less than 24-hours later, the Lions hosted the North Dundas Rockets. The last match between these two teams saw a tight game get pushed into overtime. Sunday’s match was anything but that.
Morrisburg took an early 1-0 lead. James Martens notched his fourth goal of the season, assisted by Hudson Fetterly and Monty DeJong. The Rockets tied the game four minutes later, and overtook the Lions with seven minutes left in the period. Morrisburg trailed North Dundas 2-1 after 20 minutes.
The wheels fell off in the second period for the Lions, as did the gloves. Morrisburg allowed seven unanswered goals in the span of 15 minutes, the latter four of which were all power-play goals. Tempers flared between the teams with six minutes left in the period. The altercation saw 73 penalty minutes assessed against Morrisburg’s players, and another 23 minutes against North Dundas’.
Not much improved in the final frame of the game. Lions’s forward Ethan Beaudette scored his first goal for the team (from Fetterly and Broad), but that did not do much for the final score. More penalties were handed out to both sides with even Morrisburg’s bench being hit with a misconduct.
The Rockets scored once more later in the period, as North Dundas completed their 10-2 rout of Morrisburg. The Lions collected 127 penalty minutes in the 60 minute game, the Rockets collected 45 penalty minutes.
The Lions will travel to Westport December 6 to face the Rideaus before hosting the St. Isidore Eagles Saturday night at the Morrisburg Arena. Puck drop for the December 7 game is 8:15 p.m.
Suspensions Update (December 5)
As a result of the penalties from the December 1 match between the Morrisburg Lions and North Dundas Rockets, the National Capital Junior Hockey League has suspended three players (two Morrisburg, one North Dundas) and one assistant coach. Lions’ forward Bennett Harty and defenceman Owen Fetterly have each received three game suspensions, while assistant coach Connor Manderson is suspended for one game. Rockets’ forward Jayman Heuff received a one game suspension.
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