Sports

 

After a tough, four-game opening round playoff series against the North Leeds Rideaus, the South Dundas Bantam C2 House Lions are finding themselves in a tough semi-final series against the regular season first place Athens Aeros.

That series is tied at a game apiece with the Lions winning the opener 6-2 and losing game two in Morrisburg on Sunday, March 1, 2-1.

Game three is on the road tonight, Wednesday, March 4 and if a fourth game is necessary, it will be back in Morrisburg on Thursday.

The regular season saw the Athens Aeros and Kemptville 2s finish even with 35 points. Third place went to South Grenville, while the North Leeds Rideaus were fourth with 20. The Lions were next with 16 points on eight wins and Smith Falls finished last in the six team West Division with eight points.

For the playoff setup, Athens and Kemptville sat out a round-one bye, while North Leeds and the Lions squared off and South Grenville and Smith Falls met, both in four point series.

The quarter-final series wins put South Dundas against Athens and South Grenville against the Kemptville 2s.

The winners of each series will advance to the West Division Championship.

The Lions and the Rideaus opened their quarter-final series on Morrisburg ice on Tuesday, February 17, and played to a 3-3 draw. The Rideaus led 2-1 after the second period, and the Lions charged back in the third for two goals to the Rideaus one to keep it even.

Thomas Rae had two goals for the Lions with Kendrew Byers assisting on the first and Will Dejong adding his help on the second. It was Dejong’s unassisted goal at 9:05 of the third period that tied the game 3-3.

The Lions were on the road to Westport, for game two on Saturday, February 21. The Rideaus won this one, 5-3.

They led 2-1 after the first period, and then mounted a three goal second period on their way to the two-point, 5-3 win.

The Lions got a pair of goals from Brody Smail, the first assisted by Trinity Hanes at 12:14 of the first period and the second, unassisted, just 36 seconds into the second period.

Aden Casselman collected the Lions third goal early in the third period with  Kendrew Byers assisting.

Game three was back on Morrisburg ice, Monday February 23, and the Lions stayed alive with a very convincing 9-1 win. They scored three goals in each period.

Lions goaltender Brett Froats gave up the lone goal of the game in the last second of the first period to the Rideaus Kohle McCulloch.

Brody Smail scored  four times for the Lions and added two assists, while Max Garlough counted twice and helped out on three others. Singles goals were scored by Trinity Hanes, Thomas Rae and Hunters Wells. Hanes, added three assists to her game performance.

Noah Keeler had a big game with four assists, while Maddi Hummel helped out on two goals.

The Lions hit the ice flying in game four in Westport on Wednesday, February 25. They went up 3-0 in the first period on goals from Brody Smail (from Max Garlough), Kendrew Byers (unassisted) and Trinity Hanes (from Max Garlough).

The Rideaus managed just one against Brett Froats early in the second period from Bryce Wilson.

The Lions counted two more in the third period from Brody Smail, unassisted and Hanes, from Julenea Barnhartd and Maddi Hummel for the 5-1 win.

The win gave the Lions the series, five points to three, and earned them a spot in the West Division semi-final against first place Athens.

[…]

 

The South Dundas Novice B Lions gave up just one goal in two games as they swept their opening four-point UCMHL playoff series against the South Grenville Rangers last week.

The series opened last Tuesday, February 17 in Morrisburg, with a 5-0 Lions victory and then moved to the Rangers barn in Prescott where Lions goaltender Aiden Hutt gave up just one goal in a 7-1 Lions win that wrapped up the series.

Nick Connors was a huge force to be reckoned with during the series opener last Tuesday, as he struck for four of the five Lions’ goal and provided the assist on the other.

He struck for his first two late in the first period with help from Ben Radley and Mason Hummel and his second goal was unassisted.

Late in the second period he went to work for his next two, the first assisted by Radley and the second again unassisted.

Radley scored early in the third period with help from Connors and then it was back Connors with Logan Tait providing the help on the Lions fifth and final counter.

At Prescott, the Lions went up 3-0 in the first period on goals from Noelle Hatherall (assisted by Mason Hummel), Cooper McCooeye (from Connors and Hatherall) and Connors (from McCooeye).

Braiden Anderson scored the lone Rangers goal of the series midway into the second period, and then it was back to the Lions and Connors unassisted to allow the Lions to carry a 4-1 advantage into the third period.

Goals in the third were scored  by Ben Radley, McCooeye and Hummel.

[…]

 

It may not seem like it due to the cold winter weather, but spring is just around the corner and soccer with the South Dundas Soccer Association is not far behind.

Coming up on Saturday, March 7, from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. at the Iroquois Civic Centre, is the first of two registrations for this year’s soccer program in Iroquois.

Good news for all participants is that the fees for the 2015 season remain unchanged at $40 per child. For the $40 per player participants receive his/her shirt and lunch during the final tournament. 

In addition the $40 covers 10 weeks of fun, playing soccer and making new friends and it will all start this year on Saturday, May 23. 

The year end tournament will run July 24-25, and association president Phillip Blancher says some special events to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the South Dundas Soccer Association and the 15th anniversary of the World Cup Soccer finale weekend are in the works.

South Dundas soccer runs on Saturday mornings in Iroquois from 8 am. until 11 a.m. and this year’s program is available to youth born from 1997 to 2010 (the youngest). Soccer is offered in  five age divisions U-6 (5-6 years), U-8 (7-8 years), U-10 (9-10 years) U-13 (11-13 years) and U-18 (14-18 years).

The number of players in each age category determines the number of teams, and the Saturday morning schedule is a fixed schedule with the U-8 and U-10 playing at 8 a.m., the U-6 and U-13 at 9 a.m. and the U-18 at 10 a.m.

It is because player numbers determine team numbers, that it is so important that players are registered at one or the other of the two upcoming March registrations. (The second is Friday, March 27 from 6-9 p.m. at the Civic Centre in Iroquois). There is also a late fee of $20 per child.

“Last year we had just over 400 kids on 34 teams across the five divisions. We played a total of 253 games of soccer including the tournament games,” says Blancher of the very popular program.

Players participate in one hour sessions on Saturday mornings with the first half used to work on skills and the second half to play a game. Standings are kept, mainly to provide a seeding for the team in the final tournament. “It helps us to schedule for the year-end tournament. We try to balance it at the final tournament so that everyone can have some success and fun.”

Volunteers are a key to the success of the South Dundas Soccer Program. 

“We will have the canteen open if we can get enough volunteers to run it. We need volunteer parents and students for the canteen, to help with the fields and cutting the grass. While the school board and the municipality mow, it isn’t always optimum to when we need to use the field. We need people to line the fields, to set up and take down the nets, to set out the road cones to shut down the street and to coach.”

“We certainly have lots of volunteer hours for high school students who need to get their hours in. And of course, any help from anyone is greatly appreciated.”

Blancher says the program is run with the belief that everyone has the right to play. “It doesn’t matter if there is a disability, we will work with a player’s disability and make it their strength.”

The association also doesn’t allow cost to stand in the way of a child participating. Because the cost per player of $40 is bare bones, family discounts are not available. However, the South Dundas Soccer works with the Canadian Tire Jumpstart Program and the Upper Canada District School Board’s Champions for Kids, both programs available to provide financial assistance to families who need help.

“We also have some other funding sources to help out so that anyone who wants to play soccer can. Cost is not a factor. We have a cleat exchange to help out, and we hope to have it available at the registrations.”

Soccer cleats and shinguards are mandatory for all players this year.

Blancher is pleased that a number of sponsors have returned to the soccer field this year and it is thanks to these local businesses that registration fees remain low. Sponsors come on board to sponsor colours and so if their colour is red then they sponsor the red shirts in each age category that has a red team.

For the sponsorship, the sponsors get their logo on the back of the shirts, they are featured on the Associations’ website, in programs and in any form of press release.

“These sponsorships really help us out by offsetting some of our costs (like insurance),” says Blancher. “Because of the great sponsorships we had last year, we didn’t have to increase our fees this year. That is really great, and we are very appreciative of the community support we receive.”

To save time, registration and volunteer forms can be printed and filled out in advance from the Association’s website: www.southdundassoccer.org.  Cash or cheques are acceptable.

[…]

 

All bets were off when the South Dundas Peewee C Lions and the NGS Braves hit the ice in Morrisburg, Sunday, February 22, for game three of their four-point UCMHLplayoff series.

The seesaw battle got started on Morrisburg ice last Thursday, February 19 with a very decisive Lions 6-0 victory. It resumed in Finch on Saturday, February 21 where the Braves turned it around to score a very decisive 6-0 victory of their own and send the series to a third game.

So when the two teams hit the ice on Sunday, in Morrisburg, it was very much either team’s game to win. And it was a hard fought battle with the Lions coming out on top by a 5-3 score to claim the series four points to two.

Nathen Verhey, unassisted, scored the lone goal of the first period for the Lions, and the 1-0 advantage held until early in the second when he collected his second for a 2-0 Lions lead.

The Braves charged back, with goals from Johnny McAdams at 8:11 of the second and Logan Villeneuve at 10>43 of the 15 minute period. That tied it and that’s the way it stayed through the second period.

Then 2:33 into the third period, Devon Swindells, got help from Ben Wiltshire to put the Lions up 3-2.  

That lasted until 10:22 when Verhey scored his third unassisted goal of the game to give the Lions a little space with a 4-2 advantage.

Jordan Evans got one back for the Braves with 44 second left on the clock, but that would be it.

Collin VanHoof, from Scott Brooks, counted the Lions final goal  to make it 5-3 and allow the Lions to claim the series.

It was a big game for Nathen Verhey who registered his 25th goal of the season.

The series opened Thursday night, February 19 in Morrisburg, with a 6-0 Lions victory.

The Lions hit the ice fully charged to go up 4-0 in the first period on goals from Devon Swindells (from Nathen Verhey), Mackenzie McKee-Markell (from Maclean Machon),  Machon (from Callahan Staye) and Verhey (from Scott Brooks and Swindells).

After a scoreless second period, McKee-Markell set up Jeffrey McPail to make it 5-0 Lions early in the third period.

Swindells counted the final Lions goal with just over a minute left in the game to complete the 6-0 victory.

Derrik Jansen was in net for the Lions shutout.

Then in Finch, on Saturday it was a different hockey game as a charged up Mackinnley MacKillican put the Braves up 3-0 with a hat trick performance.  He started it early in the first period and then added his next two counters in the second.

The Braves added another three unanswered third period goals from the sticks of Bryce McCrae, Tristan Leduc and Yannick Vaillancourt for the 6-0 win.

[…]

 

The South Dundas Midget B House Lions opened their 2014-15 semi-final playoff series Sunday in Morrisburg with a convincing 7-1 victory over the NGS #2 Braves.

The lone Braves goal was scored early in the third period by Evan Hambleton.

The game stayed close through the first 15 minutes of action with Trevor Nicolaassen scoring the lone goal for the Lions assisted by Drew Gillard and Ben Byvelds.

That was it until well into the second period when an Austin Robinson goal ignited the Lions for another two from Kody Arsenault and Tyler Nelson.

Providing the assists were Jonathan Mayhew to Robinson, Matt Backes to Arsenault and Arsenault and Backes to Nelson.

The Lions continued the pace in the 18 minute third period as they added another three counters in the 7-1 victory.

Austin Robinson kicked it off with help from Nelson and Gillard, and affiliate player Will Dejong made it 6-0 with help from Gillard and Nicolaassen.

Nicolaassen counted the Lions final goal with Mayhew picking up the assist.

Goaltending duties for the Midget B House Lions are shared by Christian Francis and Chris Goupil.

The Lions will be on the road for the next game in the three point, semi-final series tonight, Wednesday February 25.

The Lions finished in second place in the South East Division regular season and, as one of the top three teams, received a first-round quarter final bye. The other two teams getting a bye were the first place South Grenville 2s and the third place NGS 2s.

The lone quarter-final series was between the Char-Lan 1s and South Stormont 2s, with Char-Lan advancing with 5-2 and 6-2 wins.

Char-Lan is now playing the first place Sth Grenville 2s in the other semi-final series. 

[…]

 

On Saturday, three Morrisburg men’s teams represented us as our club hosted the 

Merkley, a two-team, four-club competition. Joe McCooeye, Robbie Stitt, Peter McCooeye and Sam Locke dropped their first match against a Metcalfe foursome before coming in to enjoy the lunch prepared and served by our volunteer committee. Then everyone went back out and Joe’s team lost to the other Metcalfe team, clearing the way for these two foursomes to face each other in the “B” final after the evening banquet. 

Our other scheduled team, Larry Cooper, Chris Barkley, John Toonders and John Allison,  defeated the first Metcalfe team, but lost in the afternoon to Winchester. Jack Barkley, Dave King, Doug Jarvis and Rick MacKenzie filled in for an absent Russell foursome, who cancelled out on Friday night. They acquitted themselves well, but thankfully didn’t get into the playoffs, as a second “Russell” team.

Winchester and the lone Russell team played off in the evening, and Winchester won the “A” trophy. We enjoyed some very good curling and some great meals, looked after by our volunteers, who helped with the ice, tended bar and made and served the meals.

Two Morrisburg senior men’s teams competed last week in the Sullivan bonspiel in Russell. Pete Zeran, Don McMillan, Andy Patenaude and Keith Robinson lost their morning game to Metcalfe on skip’s rocks, but won their afternoon match against Russell, qualifying them for the “B” final.

Jack Barkley, Dave King, Doug Jarvis and Bud Perry lost their morning game by one point, but, guess what –they won against Winchester in the afternoon, qualifying them to play against Pete in the evening. Jack’s boys were modest about the results, but they get their name on the trophy. Great work, fellows! 

It must have been interesting, looking over at the next sheet, and seeing two Metcalfe foursomes playing off for the other trophy.

Today we’ll be having the Hughie Hutchinson funspiel for the senior men. We’ll have those results next time. No haggis? Hugh’s Scottish DNA would have been unhappy.

We had a very helpful information night last Monday, with about 20 members in attendance, as well as several executive members. Ron Beaupre, Wally Baker and John 

Allison provided the information and answered questions. It looks as though we’ll be putting in the “Icemaker’s Mistress” or a reasonable facsimile, for next season. It will cost about $15,000, which we have available in our budget. We also have some additional money invested. The night set-back will save us considerable money, $6-7,000 a year, we’re told. Ron and Wally will look at the possibility of an incentive package from hydro, which would provide additional savings.

The executive has some work to do on the project yet, but has done considerable research already including queries to numerous clubs for ideas. We thank the board of directors for this and other improvements to our club. Well done!

Good Curling!

[…]

 

The South Dundas Atom B Lions hit the playoff ice  full throttle last week putting up back-to-back shutout playoff wins and scoring 18 goals in the two matches.

The games were won against NGS by identical 9-0 scores, and both  games were similar where the NGS goalie  kept things close through the first period.

Then in the second and third periods of each, the Lions were able to capitalize on their chances and take charge of the outcomes.

The four point series opened in Morrisburg on February 17th.  

The Lions led 2-0 after the first period thanks to goals by defencsemen Stefan Kronstal (assisted by Zach Scarbeau and Cam Shaver) and Nate Paulino, unassisted while the Lions were shorthanded. 

The Lions scored another four goals in the second period to go up 6-0.  

The first two were counted before the period was two minutes old by Monty Dejong (assisted by Alek Larocque and Jack McCann) and Cam Shaver (James Martens and Dryden Buter).

Spencer Barclay (assisted by Dejong) got his first of two with 5:43 left in the period and then struck unassisted with just 46 ticks left on the clock.

Sean Nicolaassen added a pair of his own in the third.  He scored his first, at 8:55 assisted by Scarbeau and the other on a breakaway at 9:58 assisted by Kronstal.  

Owen Patterson (Kronstal) got the  final goal of the game to make it a 9-0 final.

Lions goaltenders Mateo Lacroix and Quade Mullin combined for the shutout.  Captain Spencer Barclay led by example with strong forechecking and backchecking.

The Lions were on the road to  Finch, on Saturday, February 21, for game two and their second consecutive 9-0 victory.  

They got it rolling late in the first period when a Kronstal point shot bounced over McManus and laid in the crease until Nicolaassen banged it home.  

Shaver scored with 46 seconds left in the opening period to make it 2-0.

McCann made a long stretch pass to Dejong who made it 3-0 early in the second, and Nicolaassen got his second with 4:43 left when he was stopped on his first shot but grabbed the puck from behind the net and executed the wraparound.  

Shaver (assisted by Larocque) scored his second of the game at 3:48 of the third,  and Patterson made it 6-0 at 4:42 assisted by Paulino.  

Then a minute later, Patterson was the recipient of a beautiful backhand pass from Scarbeau to make it 7-0. 

The Lions got two unassisted goals in the final five minutes of the game by Buter and Nicolaassen.  

Once again Lacroix and Mullin shared the shutout to push their shutout run to 76 minutes and 28 seconds.  

The South Dundas Atom B Lions now await the winner of the Char-Lan versus Akwesasne series which sits at three points each.  They played the deciding game Last night (Tuesday) and details were not available at press time.

[…]

 

In the senior men’s invitational bonspiel last week, organizer Jack Barkley had to put three local teams in to bring the total to 12 entrants. 

In the first draw, Ron Beaupre, Al Harriman, John Allison and Rick MacKenzie finished second, defeating teams from Winchester and Cornwall. Russell won the draw, Rideau was third, and Prescott and Cornwall tied for fourth, ahead of Winchester.

The second draw saw another Russell foursome win, with Prescott second and  Maxville third. Fourth was the team of Dave King, Raymond Benoit, Sam Locke and  Don McMillan, who lost to Russell and defeated Maxville. Peter Zeran, Ray Benoit, Don McMillan and Sam Locke defeated another Russell team to finish fifth, ahead of Russell.

Jack Barkley ran a well-organized and successful event, with fantastic ice provided by Wally Baker and precise scoring by Sid Morrell. 

Last week three Morrisburg teams were in Russell for a friendly bonspiel. Andy Patenaude, Kathy Hardy, Joanne Baker and Joan MacKinnon won their match, as did Greta McGann, Ruth Kelly, Janie Connelly and Penny Charlebois. Our third team, Sue McIntosh, Kathy Killick, Denis Thibault and Linda Murphy dropped their game, giving the local opposition a bit of joy on the ice. 

In the latest draw for the senior men, the missing games were played and the finish was: first: Pete Zeran, Ron Beaupre, Eric Johnson and Glenn Cougler, second: Andy Patenaude, Doug Jarvis and Don Lazenby, and third: Jack Barkley, Bill Magee, Paul Gunther and Kent Dawley.

Peter Zeran, Don McMillan, and Mahlon and Sam Locke represented us in the final Parnell match last week in Lancaster. They lost to Prescott on their last rock and defeated Cornwall. Prescott won the trophy.

Four teams of our ladies competed in the Russell Invitational last week. 

Susan McIntosh, Wendy Casselman, and Claire and Paula Locke dropped their matches to Carleton Heights and Ottawa’s R. A. Alice Thompson, Kathy Hardy, Pat Foley and Betty Locke beat Navan and lost to R.A. Ruth Kelly, Kathy Killick, Janie Connelly and Nelda Hickman lost to one Navan team in the morning and beat the other one in the afternoon.  Our last team was Greta McGann, Joan McKinnon, Joanne Baker and Liz Locke. They defeated Winchester and Carleton Heights.

[…]

 

The season ended for the Morrisburg Junior (B) Lions on Sunday, but the game is still on as team management now battles to remain as a team in a soon-to-be reorganized Eastern Ontario Junior Hockey League (EOJHL).

The reorganization being considered will result in the EOJHL going from its current 22 teams that play in two conferences, Metro/Valley and Rideau-St.Lawrence, to 16 teams. 

This means that six teams are on the chopping block, and the Morrisburg Lions organization is working hard to make sure they aren’t one of them.

The Lions organization is owned by Kevin Casselman, Dale Lewis, Rick Gilmer and Gary Brownlee.

Casselman told players and parents, gathered for the Lions year-end banquet Sunday night (February 15) that the future of the team is uncertain.

On behalf of the Lions owners, he explained the initiative to disband the current two conferences began last June, and involved the reformation of an Eastern Ontario Junior Hockey League with fewer teams.

“What we don’t know is where we stand. We do know that we are proud, we are committed and we’ve put the money up and agreed to the terms. As an organization we are on the bubble of not being accepted into the new league.”

“We hope we will be successful,” said Casselman. “We know who we are, but unfortunately our future is in other people’s hands and it’s not a good position to be in.”

Casselman has told The Leader that the league’s apparent intent is to go to two, eight-team conferences. “They haven’t given us the criteria that will be used to choose the teams.”

“We’ve made our presentation. Our community is good and our finances are good. But if they are basing the criteria on wins and losses then we are not in a good position,”  he says of the Lions poor showings in the last several seasons.

According to a recent article in the Perth Courier with Blue Wings owner Michael McLean, the new CCHL Tier 11 League would be comprised of an east and west division with eight teams in each.

The Eastern Ontario Junior Hockey League has been around since the 1950s. It began as the St. Lawrence Jr. B Hockey League which historically ran with eight plus teams (Prescott, Cardinal, Morrisburg, Winchester, Metcalfe, Long Sault, Cornwall, Spencerville and Maxville).  Play was for the regular season Winchester Press Challenge trophy and the Gill Cup playoff championship, that cup emblematic of Junior Hockey as early as the 1940s.

In addition to the number of teams and the two division realignment, the new proposal has visited the possibility of team affiliations with upper level Junior A clubs and player drafts for better player distribution for all member clubs.

The question yet to be answered is who those members clubs are going to be.

[…]

 

They did it!  The South Dundas Atom B Lions clinched first place in the East Division of the UCMHL with an 8-4 victory over the Kemptville 2 Panthers, here on Sunday.  

“We were much better ‘out of the gate’ in this one,” says coach Brian Shaver. “We came out moving the puck and skating well.”  

The Lions forced the Panthers into an early tripping penalty at 1:43.  

They applied early pressure on the power play but a blocked shot resulted in a shorthanded breakaway for Panthers Tyler Musgrave.  A perfect shot off the post beat Lions goaltender Mateo Lacroix at 3:18 for a 1-0 Panther lead.  

The Lions didn’t let the goal get them down. They picked up right they left off, and took the play to the Panthers.  

The hard work paid off at 5:53 when Monty Dejong, from Spencer Barclay, used his backhand to beat Kaitlyn Chalupka for the 1-1 tie.  

The Lions made it 2-0, 28 seconds later.  Dryden Buter had the puck in “his office” behind the Panthers net, skated to his right, then slid a pass out front to James Martens, who wasted no time in getting it off his blade to make it 2-1.

The Lions went up 3-1 at 1:07 of the second period when Alek Larocque made an outlet pass to Dejong who split the Panthers defence at the red line, went in alone, and wristed one high past Chalupka.   

Thirty seconds later Matthew Ovenden returned the favour when he split the Lions defence and went in alone to cut the Lions advantage to 3-2..  

The Lions went up 4-2 at 5:35, when Owen Patterson banged home a Sean Nicolaassen rebound.

Buter made it 5-2 fifteen seconds into the third when he  knocked in a rebound from a shot from Martens.  Zach Scarbeau put the Lions up 6-2 at 4:21 assisted by Martens.  

Cam Shaver scored an “Ovechkin” like goal from his belly after being hauled down by a Panther defender.  He was assisted by Stefan Kronstal.  

Noah Price was able to solve Quade Mullin at 5:48 to make it 7-3 assisted by Beggs.  

Nicolaassen made it 8-3 at 6:20 assisted by Scarbeau.  

The Panthers’ got their final goal from Callum Laverance at 8:32, in the 8-4 Lions win.

The South Dundas Atom B Lions opened round one of the playoffs at home Tuesday, February 17 at 7 p.m. versus NGS.

[…]