Sports

 

Not one, not two, but three teams will represent Seaway District High School at the upcoming EOSSA Curling Championship, scheduled for March 1-2 in Brockville.

Last week, the three Seaway rinks worked their way through SD&G preliminary round action in Cornwall on Wednesday, to advance to the semi-finals and finals played in Morrisburg, Thursday.

In the girls semi-final action, Seaway’s Stephanie Venema defeated La Citadelle while North Dundas’ Sarah Churchill eliminated Rothwell-Osnabruck.

For the girls final, Venema, the defending 2011 SD&G champ, met Churchill for a final that played itself out in a similar fashion to last year. However, this time, it was Churchill who came from behind to claim the championship win.

Playing for Churchill were Abby Fawcett, Sarah Holmes and Letitia Alcock. 

On the ice with Seaway’s Venema were Kelsey Craig, Haley Van Allen and Samantha Venema. The Seaway girls are coached by Monique Engwert.

After preliminary round robin action in Cornwall, the Seaways boys team skipped by Sam Decker found themselves in third place for the right to advance to the semi-finals against  second place La Citadelle. 

A win against La Citadelle set the boys final, for the second consecutive year, with a game between Decker and North Dundas’ Dan Lillico.

And for the second consecutive year, it was Lillico stepping into the winner’s circle. The North Dundas team consisted of Lillico,

Lillico, Travis Faith, Josh Zollinger and Aaron Burns.

Playing for Seaway were Decker, Denzil Barkley, Nick Goupil and Matt Kuperferling. The team is coached by Jeff Crooke.

For the first time in a number of years, Seaway iced a mixed team for the SD&G.

Skipped by Alice Cameron, they finished second in their preliminary round draw. They then defeated St. Joe’s in their semi-final to advance to the championship against a strong Glengarry team who scored a relatively easy win.

Playing for Glengarry were skip Marshall MacPherson, Ali MacLeod Mayes, Cameron MacPherson and Iliana Wagner.

Representing Seaway were Cameron, Jacob Graham, Jessica Thompson and Jared Gibson. They are coached by Jeff Crooke.

The top two finishers in each of the three categories in the SD&G curling championship all earned the right to advance to EOSSA in March.

SD&G bonspiel organizer, Ian Wilson, said he was impressed with the curling this year and was particularly impressed with the number of teams.

“We had 23 teams this year, which is the largest we have ever had,” said Wilson. “It’s good.”

The 23 teams broke down into eight boys entries, nine girls and six mixed.

[…]

 

The South Dundas Novice B Lions finished off the 6th place North Dundas Demons in Round #1 action on Tuesday night defeating them 4pts to 0. The Lions opened the series with a 4-1 win in Chesterville and came right back the next night and on home ice won 5-4 in a tight finish.

 

     With the Lions winning 5-2 and less then a minute left in the game, the Demons had their goaltender on the bench for the extra attacker when Demon Forward Jaymen Heuff broke into the Lions end and got a shot passed Lions goaltender Brendan Shaver to cut the lead to two. On the ensuing face-off the Lions pressed for the empty net goal but got caught up ice and gave up a 4 on 1 where Mason Carr wristed a shot over Shavers glove with 8 second lefts to make the score 5-4. The Lions would win the centre ice face-off as the last second ticked away in the game and in the Demons season.

 

     The Lion had built a 4-0 lead on two goals in the first and two goals early in the second. After a week of practice the Lions were hitting all their passes on the stick. In the first, Kayne McCadden finished off a breakout play were Nolan Henry picked up the puck on the left wing in his own end and passed across ice to an open right winger Owen Fetterly who made a move and broke into the Demons end and passed the puck to Kayne McCadden standing on the left post where he banged in the opening goal. Later in the period they would hook up again on a passing play, Joshua Broad would work the left wing boards and free the puck up for Kayne McCadden who would pass the puck into the slot where Owen Fetterly would backhand the pass into the wide open net.

 

     In the second with the Lions on the powerplay after an Adam Barkley tripping penalty, Owen Fetterly would send Kayne McCadden away on the breakaway and he would deke out Demons goaltender Joshu Dagenais and slide the puck into the open cage. Riding the momentum the Lions would score on the next shift when Trent Rae would get the puck deep into the Demons right wing corner and Owen Fetterly would pick it up and make a perfect pass to Kayne McCadden in the slot where he would one time the puck into the net for the 4-0 lead and his 50th goal on the season.

 

     The Demons would battle back and score one on the powerplay and immediately after on goals by Mason Carr and Adam Barkley. The Lions would push back in the final miute of the second perid when McCadden would get the puck to the front of the net where Owen Fetterly was standing, his shot would be stopped bu as he fell into the ice after the shot he would knock the puck into the net to give the Lions a 5-2 lead heading into the third period. McCadden and Fetterly both finished with five points each on the Lions five goals.

     

     The Novice B Lions opened Round #1 of the Playoffs playing on the road in Chesterville Monday night against the North Dundas Demons. The Lions who finished in third place in the Eastern Division took Game #1 on the streaking sixth place Demons.  The regular season series was slightly in the Lions favour by a 2-1-1 record. The Lions also nipped the Demons in the "A" Final of the Guilcrest Homes North Dundas Novice B Tournament on December 27th.

 

     The teams played a tight checking first period as the goalies were tested but held strong as the period ended scoreless. Lion’s goalie Brandan Shaver and Demons goalie Joshua Dagenais were in for a battle. Lion’s defenceman Cassidy Bilmer, Emytt Fetterly, Trent Rae and Spencer Barclay kept the front of the net clear of rebounds and didn't allow any close in shots in the opening frame. Kolby Latulippe and Joshua Broad had the best scoring chances for the Lions but neither could net the puck from the top of the Demons crease.

 

     In the second period the Lions broke through with the opening goal. Owen Fetterly moved the puck up the right wing boards from his own blue line where Kayne McCadden picked it up in neutral zone and passed it into the centre where Joshua Broad was streaking into the end zone and grabbed the pass and shot the puck on the ice inside the right hand corner netting his first of the playoffs after going scoreless in eleven games. Shortly later the Lions would go up 2-0 when Ben Lapier would break out of his own end on a pass from Emytt Fetterly and Cassidy Bilmer and go the distance beating all defenders as they were slahing at his stick through the neutral zone into the Demons zone. After going wide on the Demons defense he busted to the net and scored his first of the playoffs.

 

     Spencer Barclay made the defensive play of the period as a Demon forward broke into the Lions end and made a great shot that Lions goaltender Brenadan Shaver got his pad on and just as a Demon closed in on the rebound Barclay pivotted and grabbed the puck and shot it into the corner denying the Demons the scoring chance.

 

     After a couple of penalities in the third to Ben Lapier of the Lions and Max Messervey of the Demons where the power play's were held scoreless, Demons Adam Barkley finally got the Demons on the board. With under three minutes to play the Demons pressed and the Lions flexed after an extended scrammble in front of the net, Barkley used his size and positioned himself off the right post and took three shots before beating the Lion goalie on the ice inside the right post. Now with the score 2-1 Lions and only 2:42 left, the Lions needed to push back.

 

     On the face-off at centre ice following the goal, Lions centreman Kayne McCadden pushed the puck through the opposing centre's feet, and grabbed the puck and went to the right beating the Demons left defenseman and went down the boards cutting into the middle and beating Demons goalie Joshua Dagenais to restore the two goal lead.

 

     The Demons would push back and press to cut the lead again but the Lions held strong and with the Demon goalie on the bench for an extra attacker Spencer Barclay and Owen Fetterly were able to clear the puck from thier end zone where McCadden picked it up and found the empty net for his second of the game and the 4-1 victory.

 

The Lions will open Round #2 of the playoffs on Saturday Feb 25th at 3pm in Kemptville.

[…]

Craig Nicholson, widely known as the Intrepid Snowmobiler, had lots of good things to say about the trails he and his tour group were encountering on a six day trip to Eastern Ontario last week.

Interviewed while he was relaxing in the hot tub at the McIntosh Inn in Morrisburg on Monday night, February 6, Nicholson told local press he was impressed with what he and his group of five riders were experiencing in the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs (OFSC) District 1.

“The clubs down here are doing a fantastic job of grooming,” he said. “We have travelled about 800 km so far, and we haven’t run on more than five per cent bumpy trails.”

“They are doing everything they can with what they have to work with. They still have a base and all they need is two or three inches of snow.”

Nicholson is the National Tour Editor for Snow Goer Canada magazine.

“This essentially means I spend our winters snowmobiling. It’s fun, but it’s a job. You have to get the story. At the end of the day the reader should be able to pick up the magazine and do it [the trip] themselves.” 

During the winter season, Nicholson says he and his group can log upwards of 12,000 km. “So we  know what a quality trail is like. The guys are saying over and over again that the trails here are as good as anywhere. You can’t get lost on these trails. The signage is great.”

“The only place we’ve been to that is not on board is the City of Cornwall. The Riverside Club grooms as far east as they are allowed to go toward Cornwall.”

Nicholson says that while there is an ‘unofficial’ trail that goes into the city, “Cornwall is missing a huge opportunity.”

The Nicholson group started their tour in Perth and were running a six day itinerary in Eastern Ontario District 1.  

While he says he often does a destination tour, a direct route point A to point B, this particular trip was a bit different. 

Although there was a definite destination at the end of each day, such as the McIntosh Inn, last Monday evening, the group was “not taking the most direct route each day. We rode 300 km between Hawkesbury and Morrisburg today. We are trying to ride as many of the trails as possible.”

On Tuesday the group planned to leave Morrisburg and end up in Smiths Falls. But to get there they would take trails through Finch and the Bourget area.

Already this winter, Nicholson has been to northern Canada. In March his travels will take him to Alberta.

While he spends much of his winters on tour, the off season is when he does his writing.

He seeks out snowmobile-friendly experiences that will interest snowmobilers, avidly promoting the industry and the destinations he finds.

He points out that, “From a tourism perspective when Americans come up to ride in Ontario, quite often they cross the border and keep going north. There is no reason they can’t cross the border and stay at Cornwall or Morrisburg. The facilities are here.”

“There is also no reason why other Ontario riders can’t come here and stay at Perth or Kemptville, or Morrisburg. It is only a three to four hour drive from the Greater Toronto Area.”

“People don’t think east they think north. It’s really a hidden gem here.”

The Nicholson tour was sponsored by Ontario Tourism in partnership with  Snow Goer Canada. Helping Nicholson to put it together were marketing organizations in Lanark, Prescott-Russell and Cornwall-Seaway Valley.

“The article will be out in the fall and it will be a six page feature. We are a national magazine and have a huge subscription base in Ontario.”

Nicholson rode a 2012 Ski-Doo GSX Ltd. 600 into Morrisburg and was accompanied by his wife Marsha, who rides with him on most tours. Four friends rounded out the six person group.

Nicholson says he prefers to ride in a group of six for photographic reasons. He has a core of  10-12 riders to chose from, many of whom own their own companies or are self-employed which allows them to get away easily. 

“I have to make sure I have people who are reliable, who are good riders and who know what the mission is. That is first and foremost. They make it possible for me to concentrate on what I need for the story.”

Nicholson was obviously not disappointed in what Eastern Ontario had to offer as a snowmobile destination even though there wasn’t huge quantities of snow.

He suggested that while we all claim the winters are changing, “You can talk to people in the business and they can tell you about the winter 10 years ago, or 15 years ago, when there was no snow.”

“Ontario is so big, there is always winter somewhere,” he says. “If you are serious about snowmobiling you will find it.”

[…]

With their third place finish in the Upper Canada Minor Hockey League East Division’s regular season,  the South Dundas “Pizza Hut” Novice B Lions start playoff action this week against their county rival North Dundas Demons. 

The Lions drew the eighth place Demons in an opening round best two out of three.

The Lions come into the playoffs losing back to back games for the first time since October as the East Division Brockville #2 Braves downed the Lions 2-1 and the Demons nipped them 4-3 last week in their regular season finale. 

The Lions jumped out to an early lead on the Demons when Ben Lapier took the opening faceoff down the ice and scored on a backhand shot into the bottom of the net. 

Later in the first Lapier struck again to give the Lions a 2-0 lead with help from Kolby Latulippe and Nolan Henry.

Joshua Broad sent Kayne McCadden away on a breakaway as the Lions looked for the three goal lead but McCadden’s shot rang off the cross bar out of play.

The Demons got on the board early in the second on a power-play goal by Heuff assisted by Adam Barkley. They tied the game with 13 seconds left in the second on a goal by Bowman assisted by Heuff.

The Demons struck again early in the third to grab their first lead of the game before Kolby Latulippe tied it 3-3. 

The Lions battled for the go ahead goal but gave up the game winning goal with two minutes which secured the 4-3 Demons’ victory.

In their other action, the Brockville Braves came to town and jumped on the Lions early. 

Braves forward Rhys Gibbons scored his 100th goal of the season as he scored on back to back shifts giving the Braves an early 2-0 lead.

Ben Lapier cut the lead to one when he bounced a shot off the goalie and into the net early in the second period. Cassidy Bilmer and Kayne McCadden picked up assists on the play. 

The Lions pressured the Braves but did not get the equalizer. 

Even with goaltender Brendan Shaver on the bench for an extra attacker, the Lions couldn’t muster a last minute shot in  an attempt to tie the game.

The South Dundas “Pizza Hut” Novice B Lions were in playoff action Monday night in Chesterville for Game #1 and Tuesday night in Morrisburg for Game #2. 

If necessary Game #3 will be in Morrisburg on Tuesday, February 21st at 7 p.m.

[…]

Saturday saw three teams of women from the Morrisburg Curling Club in Russell for their open bonspiel.

In the early draw were Alice Thompson, Greta McGann, Sharon Van Allen and Kathy Norg. Alice’s team knocked off the Winchester foursome in the morning, enjoyed lunch–perhaps a little too much, and lost their afternoon competition to a strong young Prescott team. 

We had two teams in the late draw: Betty Locke, Kathy Hardy, Cheryl Thompson, and Janie Connolly. Betty’s team beat Navan in the morning and dropped a match in the p.m. against Carleton Heights by a single point. 

Our final team was Susan McIntosh, Wendy Casselman, and Claire and Paula Locke. They won their morning match over R.C.M.P. and in the afternoon defeated a team from the Ottawa Curling Club. The points earned were close, but Susan’s foursome won the overall title for the day. First and second place teams were cash winners, while the also-rans made selections from the prize table.

The ladies sat down to a fine evening meal, while men in white shirts and bow ties plied them with wine. It was a fine day’s work by all of our curlers.

Playoffs were needed to select Morrisburg’s senior men’s champion for the final Parnell competition this year. Three teams challenged for the one opening and Martin Schneckenburger won the bye, forcing the other two teams to play for the right to face him for the honour. 

Sid Morrell, Raymond Benoit, Neil Williams and Al Harriman lost to Peter Zeran, Jack Dikland, Karl Duncan and Earl Jeacle in the playoff. Accordingly, Peter’s team took on Martin Schneckenburger, Mahlon Locke, Andy Patenaude and Dave King for the championship. 

In a hard-fought match, Pete’s team won the final, and earned the right to represent the Morrisburg club for the final Parnell competition of the year.

     On Friday, Pete’s foursome drove to Lancaster and did battle with Cornwall, the eventual winners of the Parnell Trophy. After their morning defeat, Morrisburg’s afternoon opponents were the host team, Lancaster, who had also lost in the morning. It was another loss for our fellows, so congratulations to Cornwall, who will keep the trophy warm for us until the fall.

    The Sullivan, another two-team, four-club competition for senior men, is being hosted by Winchester. Morrisburg, Metcalfe and Russell will attend. 

Again, there are three teams vying for the right to represent Morrisburg. Peter Zeran, George Rutley, Karl Duncan and Earl Jeacle beat Martin Schnckenburger, Dave King, Andy Patenaude and Jack Dikland on Saturday in a close match. Since we are allowed only two over-70 teams to represent us, Martin’s fellows will play Sid Morrell’s team on Tuesday, and the winner goes to Winchester today, Feb. 15, along with Peter Zeran’s foursome, for the Sullivan Bonspiel.

Friday, our funspiel was on in the morning. The teams played two six-end games each, with rotating skips, and prize money for the winners. The team of Greta McGann, Wally McDonald and Paul Gunther won their early match against Ron Brown, Wayne Pulfer and Peter Byvelds. Tied in their game with Rick McKenzie, Arnold Barkley and Bud Perry were Andy Patenaude, Keith Robinson and Denis Thibault.  In their second games, Greta’s team won a tight match over Rick McKenzie’s warriors to take first place, and finishing second with their p.m. win were Rick McKenzie, Arnold Barkley and Bud Perry. The curlers enjoyed lunch afterwards. Thanks for organizing things, Glen.

That’s it for this week, Good Curling.

[…]

 

The annual Chubbs Hockey Tournament played at the arena on the weekend, was once again a huge success with 17 area hockey teams vying for the four division awards in some very exciting hockey action on Sunday afternoon.

Claiming the first of the wins was Sheldon Beckstead’s Buzz On with a 3-2 overtime win against Steve Sypes’ Seelers in the Bud Light division.

Beckstead and T.J. McManus provided the regulation time goals for Buzz On and then in the overtime it was Beckstead who netted the winner.

The six-team Bud Light Division was extremely tight with four teams finishing tied for the top spots with four points each.

Buzz On defeated the Bullet Boys 5-0 and Cooeyes 2-1, but lost to C&S Express 3-1.

The Seelers defeated C&S Express 4-1 and Bullet Boys 8-3, but lost to Cooeyes 7-0.

For their four points, C&S Express defeated Buzz On 3-1 and the Pylons 4-0, but lost to the Seelers 4-1. The Pylons posted their four points with wins over Cooeye’s 3-2 and the Bullet Boys 4-1, but lost to C&S Express 4-0.

With such a crowd at the finish line, the Chubbs organizers looked at penalty minutes to determine who would advance to the final game and the nods went to Buzz On and the Seelers who each drew 12 minutes in penalties in their three games. The Pylons had 16 minutes and C&S Express 20 minutes.

The top goaltender Joe Billings Memorial Award went to the Bud Light Division’s Kane Rutgers who played for Beckstead’s Buzz On. Rutgers gave up just four goals in the three preliminary round games.

The Blue Light division was the next to be decided with Clayton Froats’ local team squaring off against Jimmy’s, an Ingleside based entry.

Tyler Lafortune was the big gun for Froats with four goals in the 5-3 championship win.

Jimmy’s came out strong, to go up 2-0 in the first period on goals by Justin Poulet and Cody Taylor, but in the second, Froats’ regrouped for the comeback.

Gareth Cochrane got it started, followed by Lafortune’s four goal performance.

Providing assists were Riley Nicolaassen, Chris Phifer and Kyle Weegar. 

For his strong play throughout the tournament, and especially in the final game, Lafortune was selected the Tournament MVP and presented the Cam MacLellan Sr. Memorial Trophy.

Next up was the Bud Division which came down to the final between Dave Patterson and Lemire Electric.

Pattersons were quick off the starting line to go up 4-2 in the first period, and although Lemire’s came back to make a game of it in the second (and final) period, it was too little too late.

Pattersons held on for a 6-5 win and the Bud championship.

Their top shooter was Jay Keller who counted three of the six goals.

Lemire’s finished first in the Bud division with five points. They defeated Patterson 8-3 and Wintucky 10-3 and were held to a 5-5 tie by the No Names. Pattersons defeated Wintucky 6-5 and the No Names 2-0.

The last final of the day was for the open Blue division that included just three teams. The division was dominated by Justin Elliott’s Falcons, consisting mostly of former Junior B Lions, who defeated the Snappers 8-5 and Maxville 11-1.

In the final, they met the Snappers and claimed their second consecutive open division championship with an 8-4 win.

Cory Gove led the Falcons scoring with three goals and Greg Millard backed him with a pair. Singles came from the sticks of Chad Galipeau, Dave Wallace and Justin Elliott.

Answering for the Snappers were Kyle Lundy, Chris McFarlane, Randy Mullin and Marty Braymonds.

For the second consecutive year, Falcons defenseman, Mike Carbino was presented the Mike Steward Memorial trophy as the tournament’s most valuable defenceman. 

[…]

 

Our local women (representing the Winchester Curling Club) were in some high level competitions recently. At the Senior Regional playdowns at the Quinte Curling Club, Wendy Casselman, Janet Thompson, Janet Levere and Janet LaPierre won their first match against Navy, but dropped their second and third games to Granite and the Ottawa Curling Club. The LaPierre rink was therefore eliminated. Congratulations on a fine run in the playdowns! 

The Rideau and Ottawa C.C. teams have advanced to the Provincials at Simcoe Feb. 22-26.

The Crystal Heart Bonspiel was played in Ottawa last week. Our people entered the tougher “open” competition. Wendy Casselman had Janet Thompson, Janet Levere and Janet LaPierre of Winchester with her again. They vanquished Carleton Heights, the RA and Rideau, but ran into a tough Lachine team for their first loss. As a result, they were relegated to the consolation final, where they defeated Rideau, then met Renfrew on Sunday a.m. in the semi-final and won there. Next it was on to the final against Lachine. Once again the Quebec club was victorious and took the consolation final.

Greta McGann, Susan McIntosh, Paula Locke and Claire Locke from our local club also competed at the Crystal Heart Classic. They defeated Buckingham and then RCMP before falling to that same Lachine foursome. Next they lost a tight match to Rideau, which eliminated them from further play. Well done everyone!

In other news, three of our senior men’s teams were in Winchester last week for a friendly bonspiel. 

Jack Barkley, Ted Herriman, Maurice Kolff and Jim Millard won their match, while Sam Locke, Arnold Barkley, Doug Jarvis and Bud Perry dropped theirs. Our third team of George Rutley, Neil Williams, Robert Martin and Rod McGill were victorious, ensuring boasting rights for the local boys. As usual, a good lunch and socializing followed, with some of our fellows even hurrying home to curl at Morrisburg in the afternoon. Apologies to any spares who replaced team members of record and were not mentioned.

On the same day, Sid Morrell, Raymond Benoit, Neil Williams and Al Harriman were in Russell for a bonspiel there. They won a tight first match against an R.A. Centre foursome, and after lunch handily defeated a Carleton Heights team to finish second by half a point in the 16-team bonspiel and take home prize money. 

Our second team, George Rutley, Karl Duncan, Jack Dikland and Earl Jeacle, had a tougher time of it, dropping their morning match to a Winchester quartet, and their afternoon game to a strong Cumberland team. Still, everyone enjoyed the luxurious four-sheet facility and beautiful new lounge, as well as the delicious roast pork dinner.

Playoffs are the norm for our senior men for the next while, as they prepare for the postponed Parnell finale on Friday, and the upcoming Sullivan bonspiel in Winchester.

Locally, there are still a few spots open for our Heart and Stroke bonspiel on Saturday, Feb. 18. Also, March 3 is the date for the Easter Seals, and then there’s the closing bonspiel on March 31. Don’t forget to sign up for these bonspiels, and to put your names down as volunteers to help keep things running.

Glen Cougler is at it again. This time it’s an in-house bonspiel for our senior curlers. It’s on from 8:30-12:30 on Friday. We have two stick teams already and are looking for 16 more curlers, with or without sticks. There will be two four-end games, with lunch to follow. The cost is $5, and the regularly-scheduled games (1 p.m.) will follow. Prizes and surprises are promised. Thanks again, Glen!

Good curling to all!

[…]

 

Through five games played in a 16-team Atom C Tournament in Spencerville this past weekend, the South Dundas Scotiabank Atom C Lions trailed for only five minutes. Unfortunately, those five minutes were the last five of the championship game against the hometown South Grenville Rangers.

Coming off  a runner-up finish in their first tournament this past December, the Lions were looking forward to another good result in this event. They played some tough games and produced some well-deserved wins before falling victim to the Rangers in the final and losing by a 4-3 count.

The Lions opened play on Friday afternoon against the Nepean Admirals.  They dominated from the opening whistle, but had trouble popping many goals past the Nepean goalie.  

After taking a tight 2-1 lead into the third period, the Lions exploded for four goals to win the game 6-1.  

Jaeden Shaver led the Lions with a hat trick and single goals were scored by Shelby Martineau, Owen Orendi and affiliate Duncan Hutt.  

Assists went to Kendrew Byers (two), Chloe Hart, Shelby Martineau, Rachel Nicolaassen, Mackenzie McKee-Markell, Trystyn Hummel and Devon Swindells. 

The second round robin game had the Lions facing the Leitrim Hawks and this time out they produced a 7-1 victory.  

Once again an aggressive Lions teams forced the opposition into many mistakes.  

Shaver had a second consecutive hat trick to pace the Lions.  Affiliate Sean Nicolaassen scored twice with Swindells and McKee-Markell also scoring.  

Great teamwork led to many players picking up assists.  They included Byers with three, Martineau with two, Caleb Douma, Matt Mackay, Hummel, Owen Orendi, Rachel Nicolaassen, McKee-Markell and Swindells.  

For the second consecutive game, affiliate Brett Froats came on in relief of goalie Michaela Mustard.  Both goalies played well when called upon.

The final round robin game ended in a 2-2 as the Lions went up against one of their league rivals, South Grenville C2. 

After taking an early 2-0 lead, the shorthanded Lions defence was unable to hold off the Rangers long enough to ensure the victory.  

The game ended in the 2-2 tie which, fortunately, was enough to allow the Lions to win their pool over the Rangers (based on previous games Goals For – Goals Against).  

By winning their pool, the Lions secured a spot in Sunday’s “A” semi-final against Kemptville C2 Panthers.  

Scoring the Lions goals in the 2-2 tie were Owen Orendi and Jaeden Shaver.  Assists were credited to Kendrew Byers, Shelby Martineau and Sean Nicolaassen.  

Goaltender Michaela Mustard stoned the Rangers time and time again as they pressured for the game winning goal.

Sunday’s semi-final game against the Kemptville C2 Panthers was a very close contest between two evenly matched teams. 

The Lions jumped out to a very early lead on a first minute goal by Shelby Martineau (assists to Shaver and Byers).  

The outcome of the game was in question until the final minute when Shaver (from Rachel Nicolaassen) scored into the open Kemptville net to put the game out of reach.  

This hard fought semi-final victory sent the Lions into the “A” Championship Final against the other South Grenville team.

After only a one hour break, the Lions took to the ice to face their toughest competition of the tournament.  

Once again, they jumped out to an early lead  on a McKee-Markell goal assisted by Swindells.  

The Rangers tied the game but Duncan Hutt (from Devon Swindells) put the Lions back on top by a score of 2-1.

Once again before the end of the first period, the Rangers tied the game.  

The Lions took a 3-2 lead in the second period on a Hummel and Martineau setup to Jaeden Shaver.

The Rangers tied the game two minutes into the third and took their first lead of the game when they scored with less than five minutes left in the game.  

The Lions gave it a great effort but were unable to score the equalizer before the final buzzer sounded.  

The final score was 4-3 in favour of the hometown Rangers.  

A very tired and disappointed group of Lions had absolutely no reason to be upset with the result.  

Throughout their five games, the players competed hard on every shift and gave all of the effort that was asked of them by their coaches.  Parents and coaches alike are very proud of the team’s effort and subsequent result (2nd place in the 16 team tournament).   

The Lions return to tournament action next month when they conclude their season at the Kingston Kids for Kids Tournament, where they look forward to the opportunity to end their runner-up streak.   

The Lions will now be preparing for their first round playoff opponent, the North Dundas Demons.

[…]

 

YEAHAA! Find your ponies and giddy up to the rink for a month of Wild West Adventures with the Morrisburg Figure Skate Club. We’ll have a boot skootin’ time full of cowboys and cowgirls, especially Saturday the 11th, our dress for the west day! Also, our regular Canskate lessons will occur Monday the 20th, Family Day.

Speaking of Canskate fun, February the 18 & 19TH is the Interclub competition. A fun filled weekend in Cornwall where anyone from Canskate to Starskate can compete. We have close to 40 skaters from Morrisburg competing in a variety of events. 

So if you’re in Cornwall that weekend drop by the new Benson Center and catch some of the action. 

Also, one important date to mark on your calendar is March 31st, our Carnival. Hope to see you all there!

Our Starskaters have also been working very hard.  Many had a very successful test day in January. Congrats to all who passed their tests that day! 

We also have three skaters preparing for EOSICS in Belleville February 24th – 26th. Be sure to wish Teisha Mullin, Kristyn VanHoof and Trina Dykstra-Macpherson good luck and let them know we’ll be cheering for them.

Have a Happy Valentine’s Day! Remember skate great and have fun! Kate

[…]

 

The Morrisburg Junior B Lions are slowly creeping up to the finish line of the 2011/12 season and with the end now in sight it appears they should be able to remain out of the St. Lawrence Division’s basement position.

In fact, mathematically it is still possible that they could end up in fourth spot for a playoff position but it is a mathematical equation that includes two games against the second place Casselman Vikings and the third against the Char-Lan Rebels.

“We would need to win all of our games and Char-Lan would have to lose all of their games,” says discouraged Lions coach Thom Racine who has experienced a season that at no time saw a full Lions bench…for one reason or another.

The latest was the absence of goaltender Mikael Dion who was prevented from making last Tuesday night’s game against the Rebels in Williamstown due to a snowstorm. Dion travels faithfully from the Montreal area.

Then less than one minute into the game Michael Poapst set up Michel Lefebvre for a beaut of a goal, but caught watching the puck and was labelled by a Char-Lan defenceman.

The concussion puts Poapst out for the remainder of the season.

After the injury, the Lions were unable to get it together and the Rebels went on to build a 2-1 first period lead, as they headed for the 8-5 win.

After two periods the Rebels were ahead 6-3, the Lions counting a pair of power play goals from Brayden Girard and Chris Rutley.

The Rebels stretched it to 8-3 early in the third period and the Lions added two more late in the frame from Michel Lefebvre and Sylvester Bzdyl.

Thursday night, February 2, the Lions travelled to Casselman where they were defeated 7-1. 

“We played a pretty good game against Casselman,” said Racine. “I know people will ask how you can say that when you lost 7-1, but I really wasn’t disappointed in our play.”

The Vikings led 3-1 after the first period and added another two goals in each of the second and third periods.

Marc Antoine Kamel, with help from Sylvester Bzdyl scored the lone Lions goal while the Lions were short-handed in the first period.

“We proved we could play with them Thursday night,” says Racine. “We just can’t score. You work so hard and you get no reward ant then they skate down the ice and boom. I felt our kids showed up to play Thursday night and I wasn’t disappointed.”

Then on Saturday night, the Lions were in Alexandria without the services of Chris Rutley who was sitting out a game for having had his third fight this year during the Tuesday night, Casselman game.

The Lions left the Alexandria rink, with their second consecutive 7-1 loss, but as they would find out later, there should have been more than just Chris Rutley sitting out.

An Alexandria player had, likewise experienced his third fight during the Glens game Friday night in Winchester and should not have played against Morrisburg.

When the game sheets were submitted the league officials noted that he had played and the game was awarded to Morrisburg.

“We played pretty well in Alexandria. They scored three quick goal late in the first period and we went into the second period down 4-0. I told the boys just to out and fight back, and they did. We out shot them in the second period and hit a couple of posts and a leg. I thought at least we battled back.”

The lone Lions’ goal was scored by Michel Lefebvre assisted by Clark Veenstra and Ryan Ward.

To finish out the season, the Lions have signed Jessie Brown from Metcalfe. “We had one card open and with the loss of Poapst, we figured we could use an extra body,” says Racine.

The Lions will end their regular season this weekend.

They will host the Casselman Vikings twice, on Friday night at 8:15 p.m. and again on Sunday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. (make-up game). Saturday night they are in Williamstown for a 7:45 p.m. match against the Char-Lan Rebels.

As the St. Lawrence Division teams head into the final weekend of play, stats show that the Winchester Hawks and the Casselman Vikings have locked up their first and second place finishes. Alexandria has secured third place and Char-Lan holds fourth place with 31 points. The Lions are next with 25 and the Wolves are in the basement with 21.

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