Sports

Local boxer, Phil Hoftyzer was awarded a unanimous three-round decision at a Friday, February 24 fight in Ottawa against Brutus Payente of Gatineau, Quebec.

A member of the Champs Eastside Boxing Club in Cornwall, Hoftyzer fought in a men’s open class light heavyweight match.

A Boxing Ontario sanctioned event, Fight Night in the Capital 4, was hosted by the Beaver Boxing Club.

The three rounds were action packed with Hoftyzer having the higher punch output for the unanimous decision.

The bout was also voted the best of the evening.

The momentum of the fight went back and forth with Hoftyzer gaining an edge with high pressure and volume  punching.

“He was quite a bit bigger than me, so my fight plan was high pressure,” said Hoftyzer who was 175 pounds to Payente’s 182. “I thought the fight would be a bit easier than it was. But the harder I fought, the harder he came back.”

Hoftyzer trains three days per week at the Champs club in Cornwall and works out at home in Morrisburg another two nights per week. 

He is coached by Jorge Luis and stats listed on the club website show Hoftyzer as an Active Amateur Boxer with 20 fights with 12 wins and eight losses.

Last year he laid off the sport, but this year is back and going hard.

Hoftyzer who comes from the Iroquois area, first took up boxing when he was a student at Seaway District High School.

After school, he served in the Canadian Armed forces for three years.

In 2009, at the age of 23 he won the Ontario Novice Light-heavy Weight division. In the same year, he won a bronze medal at the Open Provincial Boxing Championship.

Hoftyzer now lives in Morrisburg and works in construction.

In other local boxing news, pro boxer Tony Luis, 13-0 with five knockouts and holder of the WBC Continental Americas Light Welterweight Belt, will be in action on April 7th in Montreal at the Claude-Robillard Centre.

Tickets and bus transportation for local fans can be arranged by calling 613-360-5944. Tony, the son of Jorge Luis at the Cornwall Champs club, will box an eight or 10 rounder against one of the leading contenders in his weight class.

Coming up on April 14th at the Best Western Parkway Inn in Cornwall, Champs will host their 2nd annual Knock Out Poverty event. Hoftyzer will be fighting as the main event in this fund raiser for the Agapé Centre.

[…]

What the Morrisburg and District Figure Skating club lacked in numbers at the annual Winchester Figure Skate Competition on Saturday, March 10, it more than made up for in quality.

The lone skater to represent the Morrisburg Figure Skate Club, Jessica Groves (pictured left) scored a gold medal skate in the CanSkate elements Routine Stage 4 and then backed it up with a silver medal finish in the Canskate Challenge (a new format introduced for CanSkate this year).

With her regular coach away on vacation, Jessica had Jessica Bass, a senior level skater with the Morrisburg Club, take on the coaching responsibility.

Bass, who is considering becoming a coach in the future, did a great job in a very professional and friendly manner.

It was an impressive day with the two Jessicas working well together for a memorable event for both. 

Although Madisyn Hart had originally registered for the competition she had to withdraw due to illness.

Morrisburg skaters are now getting ready for carnival.

[…]

It may be near the end of the season, but the Morrisburg Curling Club’s senior citizens are still curling up a storm.

Last week, eight men journeyed to Gananoque for a bonspiel. Dave King, Jack Barkley, Doug Jarvis and Bill Magee dropped their first game against a foursome from Kingston, but had better luck after lunch, defeating a Brockville team. Sid Morrell, Raymond Benoit, Neil Williams and Al Harriman, in the late draw, played two Gananoque teams, defeating both of them. Their score was just three points behind the overall champions in the 16-team bonspiel, so they had to settle for second place. No problem, though, for every one of the sixty-four curlers took home a pork roast as a prize. 

It was the first time in the rink for many of the fellows, and the club impressed them. It was older, but very well maintained, and besides, they had a private meeting room.

Friday, the same two teams represented us in Cornwall for the four club, two-team McLennan Bonspiel. Dave’s team defeated Lancaster and Prescott, leaving Sid’s men to try to match them. They did it in style, knocking off the top Cornwall team in the morning and defeating Lancaster handily in the afternoon. 

Unfortunately, the scoring method Cornwall uses, total points for both teams from each club, left our boys short by two points against –you guessed it, the Cornwall hosts. Even though we had bested their top team in the morning, they had run up a high score in the afternoon match, and that was enough to keep the trophy in Cornwall. Well done anyway, Morrisburg.

Saturday and Sunday, the Morrisburg club hosted the Bantam Mixed Regional Playdowns, although we had no local teams involved in the bantam or junior regional play. Foursomes from R.C.M.P, Perth (2), Huntley (2), Cornwall, Quinte and Carleton Heights competed. The winners, Calwell of Quinte and Leslie of R.C.M.P., will be in the Provincial Championships March 28-31. 

Ian McGillis, from the OCA, officiated, and our ice technician, Wally Baker, and President Mahlon Locke and his volunteers made sure things were ready and ran smoothly. 

   There’s a notice in the lounge at the club for the last two-person ‘spiel of the year this weekend. Sign up for the competition if you’re interested.

A closing bonspiel is scheduled for March 31st. Included in the event will be lunch, an evening banquet, the annual meeting, and the club championship final. See the sign-up sheets in the lounge for the bonspiel and for the banquet. A lunch will be provided for those in the bonspiel. We’ll have more details and information next time. 

Don’t forget to follow our men in the City of Ottawa Bonspiel. We also have some men and women in what will likely be the last bonspiels of the season for them. We hope to have those results for you next time. With the Scotties, Canadian Women’s Championship, in Kingston next year, our executive is looking to see whether there is interest in renting a bus to get people there. Look for the survey sheet in the lounge to help your board of directors gauge interest.

That’s it for this week.

Good curling to all!

[…]

 

The South Dundas “Howitzer” Novice B Lions defeated the Kemptville #2 Panthers in two straight games to advance to the East Division finals against the Brockville #2 Braves. 

Heading into the series, it was expected to be a close one. In previous matches, the Lions held the season series advantage over the Kemptville team 2-1-1. In October, they lost to the Panthers in an exciting overtime game in the “A” final of the NGS tournament.

The opening game pitted the number two rank Panthers against the third ranked Lions who had just come of a two game sweep of the North Dundas Demons. 

The Panthers came out strong in the opening minutes while the Lions were adjusting to their speed. That result in a Panther goal just 1:40 in from Noah Penney.

The Lions bounced back quickly on the power play when Kolby Latulippe scored from the slot, assisted by Ben Lapier and Nolan Henry. 

The Panthers added one more before the period ended for a 2-1 advantage heading into the second period..

Goals were traded in the second by Lion Nolan Henry and by Panther Matt Murphy, before the Lions exploded for three goals in three minutes.

Lapier kicked it off when he scored on a breakaway pass from Emytt Fetterly, then Kayne McCadden connected on a nice three way passing play by Owen Fetterly and Joshua Broad.

Henry picked up his second goal by making a couple of moves at the Panthers blue line before breaking into their zone and scoring. The assist went to Cassidy Bilmer who had moved the puck up the right wing boards. 

Penney responded for the Panthers to close the gap to 5-4 in the Lions favour as they headed into the third period.

Lion’s goalie Brendan Shaver was sharp in the third period keeping the Panthers off the score board with the help of defense partners Spencer Barclay and Trent Rae. 

The Lions extended their lead to three, with goals from McCadden and Henry. 

Henry’s was his third goal of the game giving him his second hat trick in a week.

Emytt Fetterly picked up the assist with line-mate Owen Fetterly and Joshua Broad assisted on McCadden’s goal.

The Lions grabbed a late power play marker when Latulippe netted his second of the game with 22 seconds left with assists to Owen Fetterly and Henry. 

With the game one, 8-4, the Lions grabbed home ice advantage in the series.

Back home on Morrisburg ice, last Wednesday, the Panthers were looking to even the four-point series. 

Panther Noah Penney once again opened the scoring on a breakaway two minutes into the first period and the 1-0 lead held into the second period.

 In the second, the Lions got on the scoreboard while on the power player when Kayne McCadden took a pass from Nolan Henry in the slot and scored with a low shot to the corner of the net. 

Ben Lapier picked up the secondary assist as he kept the puck alive along the boards and made a short pass to Henry. The Panthers battled back to take a 2-1 lead, but before the second period ended the Lions scored another two from Ben Lapier  and Kayne McCadden as he and his line mates Owen Fetterly and Joshua Broad would team up on a passing play.

With the Lion’s up 3-2 to start the third, the Panthers pressed but Lions goaltender Brendan Shaver stood tall. 

As time ticked by McCadden scored his third of the game, a hat trick, with the Fetterly boys’ picking up assists, Owen and Emytt. 

When the third period expired, and the Lions had their fourth consecutive playoff win and second series sweep.

The South Dundas “Howitzer” Novice B Lions were in playoff action on Sunday afternoon in Brockville for Game #1 of the East Division Final and won 5-3, Game #2 was played last night, Tuesday, March 6th in Morrisburg.

Details of the championship series will be in next week’s issue of The Leader.

[…]

 

The South Dundas Atom B House 2 Lions ended their playoff run with a hard fought battle against the Brockville Braves on Saturday, March 3. 

The two teams went into the fourth and final game of the series tied at three points apiece.

The Braves opened with a 4-3 win but the Lions battled back in game two for a 2-0 win to event the series at two point each.

Game three ended in a 1-1 tie, forcing the fourth game in Brockville on Saturday.

Saturday’s action was again a close affair, and once again ended in a 2-2 tie. That forced the game into overtime, after two period of scoreless sudden death it went to a shoot out.

The Braves prevailed in the shoot out scoring on two out of three opportunities, to eliminate the Lions.

Head coach David Lapier had asked his team to “leave it all on the ice”, and after the game, although disappointed with the shoot out loss, he said, “I’m proud of all the players and how well they played in the playoffs. It was a great team effort.”

The Lions, who finished second in regular season play, opened the four point series against the third place Braves at home on Sunday, February 26. 

The Lions who had received a first round bye, came out flat in the opening game falling behind 3-2 in the third period.

They found inspiration in the spirited play of Sarah Backes who repeatedly out-battled the larger Brockville defenders deep in their own zone, but try as they might to mount a comeback, at the final buzzer the score was 4-3 in favour of the Braves.

Game 2 in Brockville, saw the Lions come out roaring to dominate play in the first period and maintain possession of the puck in the offensive zone for most of the period. 

Right winger, Ty DeDekker picked up a loose puck in front of the net and slid it past the Braves keeper to make it 1-0. 

Dean Lapier sent several thundering shots towards the Braves net from the blue line and Brady Smith blocked a clearing attempt with his skate and sent a hard shot on net where Kolby Hamilton converted the rebound. 

Power forward Jack Collins played a solid two way game as the Lions held on for the 2-0 win and the only shutout of the series for Lions goaltender Olivia Salmon.

The series returned to Morrisburg for game three on Thursday, and in front of a large and supportive crowd the Lions strove to eliminate the Braves. 

Colin Minish scored with a back-hander from the crease to put the Lions up 1-0. 

Jayden Rowe repeatedly broke up the Braves attempted advance through the neutral zone, and Nathen Verhey blocked several shots as the Braves attempted to even the score. 

The Lions valiantly defended their lead while Brockville had a 5 on 3 power play, only to have a screen shot slip in seconds after returning to full strength. 

The game ended in a 1-1 tie, to force a fourth and deciding match in Brockville on Saturday, March 4. 

Minish scored twice for the Lions, but again Brockville scored late in the third to tie the game 2-2  and force overtime.

The teams moved to a four on four format for five minutes of sudden death overtime, and although the Lions generated several scoring chances they couldn’t put the puck past the Braves goalkeeper. 

A second sudden death period, this time with three skaters for each side was required.

Several back and forth rushes had the crowd roaring in approval. Brockville’s top goal scorer broke in alone but Dana Domanko used her speed to close the gap and then strip him of the puck as he entered the high slot.  

Once again, the overtime would end without a goal. 

It finally came to a shoot out to settle the game (and series) and with the first two Lions shooters unable to put the puck in the net, the Braves scored on two of three opportunities for the victory.

[…]

 

The Easter Seals Bonspiel was played at the Morrisburg club on Saturday. The organizing committee announced that they had raised over $1,400 on the day for this fine charity. The two full draws, with nearly 50 curlers, including representatives of all club leagues from little rockers to seniors and entries from outside the club, enjoyed a delightful day and a fine lunch, catered by the committee. 

Bob Ruddick was the emcee, Betty Locke arranged for the teams, Margaret Reynolds and Easter Seal people and volunteers ensured a successful event. Bob presented certificates to the Morrisburg and District and the Iroquois/Matilda Lions’ clubs and the Odd Fellows, in recognition of their many years of supporting the children helped by Easter Seals. Ross, one of the children who has been helped in this way, was on hand, kindly agreeing to represent all young people.

The first draw was won by Al Harriman, Arnold Barkley, Ron Brown and Denis Thibeault. Tied for second place were Sam and Claire Locke and Wendy and Jim Casselman, and the Morrisburg Lions’ Bill Magee, Fred Langlotz, Keith Robertson and Paul Gunther. In the late draw, Mahlon Locke, Pam St. Pierre, John Toonders and Paula Locke took top honours, with the Odd Fellows team of Graham and Glen Pemberton and Derek and Shelley Whittaker a strong second. Thanks to all who participated.

The senior men held a playoff last week for Morrisburg’s two spots in the McLennan Bonspiel, to be played in Cornwall. Sid Morrell, Raymond Benoit, Neil Williams and Al Harriman won the first match against Pete Zeran’s team. Accordingly, the losers had to play the third interested quartet to get to the bonspiel. Pete Zeran, George Rutley, Jack Dikland and Karl Duncan played against Dave King, Jack Barkley, Doug Jarvis and Bill Magee to decide the second entrant for Morrisburg.

    Dave’s foursome came out on top in the well-played match, and the local teams will face Cornwall, Prescott and Lancaster on Friday.

    At the senior mixed bonspiel in Navan last week, Morrisburg entered three teams. The so-called 2-2-2 bonspiels involve two men and two women, whose total age must be at least two hundred and twenty-two. These are a lot of fun, and can be quite competitive. Morrisburg is one of many clubs that run this type of bonspiel, and curlers might want to consider these posted competitions in future.

The early draw in this one saw Alice and Steve Thompson, Keith Robinson and Sharon Van Allen win half the ends, but come up short on the scoreboard in their first match. Dave King, Ruth Kelly, Fred (Boomer) Langlotz and Joanne Baker fared better, tying their first game. 

In the next draw, Mahlon Locke, Kathy Norg and Sam and Claire Locke won their morning game handily and after lunch all three of our teams hit the ice again. The Thompson and King rinks fought hard, but a big end in each game did them in. Dave King’s rink finished third, while the Thompson foursome took the high one-game honours. 

In the late draw, Mahlon’s team had to settle for a tie, and took second place overall. All things, including weather considered, it was a pleasant, successful day for our local curlers, with good competition, a fine lunch, and noteworthy hospitality.

There are just a few more bonspiels to go, league championships to announce, and the club’s closing bonspiel. Stay tuned for the results.

That’s all, folks. Good curling to all.

[…]

 

The South Dundas Midget B House Lions will be looking to stay alive tonight (Wednesday, March 7) when game two of their championship series against the North Dundas Demons comes to town.

The series opened in Winchester, on Sunday, with a 5-1 Demons win.

The Lions posted the lone goal of the first period from the stick of Jason Gallinger with help from  Joel Johnston and Randy Picotte.

That was it, however, as the Demons charged back for three unanswered second period goals and polished it off with another two in the third.

Josh Jaquemet led the Demons charge with three goals, and singles were added by Austin Carruthers and Mike Ladoucer.

Game two of the series is scheduled for 8 p.m., tonight (Wednesday, March 7) in Morrisburg.

The Morrisburg B House Lions finished the regular season in third place with seven wins, 14 losses and three ties.

In quarterfinal playoff action, the Lions eliminated the Akwesasne Wolves in two games straight by 1-0 and 2-1 scores.

Then in semi-final action they met the Smith Falls Bears.

This time out they lost the series opener 2-0, but then battled back to claim the series with 3-1 and 3-2 wins. 

That put them into the final against the North Dundas Demons.

Scoring the lone goal for the Lions in game one against the Wolves was Sawyer Gillard with David Plamondon and Cole Veinotte providing the assists.

In game two, Chase Dedekker and Darrin Stinson provided the Lions goals.

After the opening game 2-0 loss to the Smiths Falls Bears, the Lions were on home ice last Tuesday, February 28 where they got back on track with the 2-1 win.

It was another back and forth game, with both teams getting lots of shots. Lions goaltender Hunter Jones, however, was solid in net.

After a scoreless first period, Sawyer Gillard, with help from Cole Veinotte, put the Lions on the scoreboard.

The Lions couldn’t hold on and before the second period ended the Bears had tied it, 1-1.

The victory goal came from the stick of defenseman, Chase Dedekker in the third period, with Veinotte providing the assist, his second of the game.

Tied at two points apiece, the Lions returned to Smiths Falls on Thursday, March 1st for game three and took the series with a 3-2 win.

Once again it was a close encounter, with Lions goaltender Josh Martineau, coming up with some big saves for the victory.

Brandon Bass opened the scoring for the Lions with 27 seconds left in the second period, with help from Graydon Baylis and Matt Woolley.

Two minutes into the third period, Smith Falls tied the game 1-1 and then went up 2-1.

The Lions charged back with goals from Darrin Stinson and Spencer Sloan for the 3-2 win. Picking up assists were  Baylis, Nick Lalonde and Veinotte.

When coach Claude Plamondon was questioned what his strategy was, he replied “to at least out score the other team by one”.

That plan will be in effect tonight, in Morrisburg, when the Lions battle to stay alive against the North Dundas Demons. Game time is 8 p.m. Game three of the series, if necessary, will be played in Chesterville this Thursday night, March 8.

[…]

 

Two games into their round-robin playoff setup and the Dundas County Girls Bantam House team is looking very solid.

The girls got it rolling on Saturday, March 3 in Kemptville, with a 3-2 win, an effort that required a major comeback after they trailed the Storm 2-0 in the first period.

Then in game two, back on home ice on Sunday, they posted a 4-0 victory over Clarence/Rockland with Emma Pintal in net for the shutout.

Saturday in Kemptville, the Storm went up 2-0 in the first period on goals by Clea Spencer and Katie Craig.

Marcy Smith answered with one for Dundas in the second period to tighten the count to 2-1. Smith was assisted by Ally Weegar and Janis Hall.

Midway into the third period, Kalleigh Young, assisted by Lauryn Henry, tied the game 2-2.

The winning goal came seconds later from Cassandra Young, assisted by Paige Morris and Young. 

Dundas counted two goals late in the first period against Clarence/Rockland on Sunday and never looked  back as they added singles in the second and third periods for the 4-0 win.

Janis Hall got it rolling with the two first period goals, the first assisted by Smith and Anna Gruich and the second unassisted.

Smith counted in the second period with Hall providing the assist and Paige Morris finished it off with help from Molly Garlough.

Dundas will play two more games (all teams in the league play four playoff games). The top two teams after the four games then move on to the Championship Day set for Kemptville on March 31.

Game three for Dundas is scheduled for Saturday, March 17 in Smiths Falls. Their final home game will be played in Chesterville on Tuesday, March 20 at 8:30 p.m. against Outaouis. 

[…]

 

Some 37 Morrisburg Figure Skating Club skaters competed at the annual Interclub held in Cornwall on the weekend of February 18-19.

Results for the younger skaters were printed in the Leader last week. The following are the results for the older skaters. The finishes printed below are for each of the skaters/groups of skaters flights. Due to the number of skater at Interclub a number of flights are run in each of the various categories, each producing their own set of finishes.

Starskate

First Place Finishes

Kristyn Van Hoof–Solo Spiral Preliminary (P)

Reagan Belanger, Olivia Hart & Katie Buter–Team Spins Pre-preliminary (PP)

Kendra Buter & Trina Dykstra MacPherson–Shadow Dance PP

Kristyn Van Hoof & Abigail Jordan–Team Spins P

Tayler Pilon & Abby MacMillan–Shadow Dance Jr. Bronze (JB)

Abby MacMillan & Teisha Mullin–Similar Pairs JB, Team Elements JB and Team Spins JB

Alyssa MacMillan & Allison Lee–Similar Pairs Jr. Silver (JS)

2nd Place Finishes

Reagan Belanger–Solo Spiral

Ali VanHoof–Solo Spiral

Alice Cameron & Cameryn Broad–Similar Pairs PP

Reagan Belanger & Olivia Hart–Shadow Dance PP

Cameryn Broad & Erika Jordan–Team Elements PP

Kaitlyn Stewart & Alexis Engwerda–Shadow Dance JB

Abby Jordan, Alexis Engwerda, Kaitlyn Stewart & Tayler Pilon–Team Spirit Beginner

3rd Place Finishes

Olivia Hart–Solo Spiral PP

Reagan Belanger & Erika Jordan–Similar Pairs PP

Olivia Hart & Trina Dykstra MacPherson–Similar Pairs PP

Reagan Belanger, Oliva Hart & Katie Buter–Team Elements PP

Kendra Buter, Kathleen Nicolaassen & Trina Dykstra-MacPherson Team Spins P

Alexis Engwerda, Kaitlyn Stewart, Tayler Pilon Team Elements P

Jessica Bass & Logan Patterson– Team Elements JB and Team Spins JB

Kendra Buter, Trina Dykstra MacPherson, Kathleen Nicolaassen & Kristyn Van Hoof–Team Spiral Beginner

4th Place Finishes

Ashley Bouwman & Alice Cameron–Team Spins PP

Cameryn Broad & Erika Jordan–Team Spins PP

Katie & Kendra Buter–Similar Pairs PP

Kristyn Van Hoof & Abby Jordan–Similar Pairs P, Shadow Dance JB, Team Elements P

Kaitlyn Stewart, Tayler Pilon and Alexis Engwerda–Team Spins P

Jessica Bass & Logan Patterson–Similar Pairs JB

Teisha Mullin–Solo Spiral JB

Reagan Belanger–Intro B Spins Spiral

[…]

 

South Dundas Lions Bantam Rep player, Nash Nesbitt drops the puck to officially open Saturday night’s festivities organized by the South Dundas Minor Hockey Association. In total the fund raising event raised $3,200 for the local association which included a very generous $1,500 donation made back by the Sens Alumni. The evening included a game between the Ottawa Senators Alumni and a heavily stacked local team made up of the coaches in the local organization.  Taking the face off for the coaches (left) is South Dundas Minor Hockey president Jeff Van Moorsel, and for the Sens Alumni is Dan Frawley a former Pittsburg Penguin player who now lives in the area. Thanks to the donation of an autographed Sidney Crosby helmet arranged by Frawley, the evening also raised $1,200 for the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario where Nash received his recent cancer treatment. Joining Nash, l-r, are his dad Earl, Sylvie Corbin (Director, Major Gifts for the CHEO Foundation) and Nash’s mom, Tammy. Pictured at the top and right is action during an Initiation game played during the intermission. The young players were joined by several of the Ottawa Alumni players including goaltender Mark Cavellin and #19 Brian Richardson. Although Nash Nesbitt scored twice for the Coaches on penalty shots, and Randy ‘Tug’ Mullin (assisted by Bruce Mullin and Rob Casselman) and Mike Barclay (assisted by Jeff VanMoorsel and Joe Hummel) added singles, the coaches remained well behind their opponents. The coaches had great goaltending from Frank Waytowich and Ben Henry and several great scoring opportunities. Twice David Lapier was set up by little brother Shawn and twice he missed, Steve Martineau was stymied on a break-away, and Brian Shaver, Joe Hummel, George Menges, Jamie Smith, Shawn Hummel and Gary Hart all had their chances. Coach Claude Plamondon said after the game, he would have his squad much better prepared, next time.

[…]