nnMorrisburg Lions’ forward Dean Lapier found his way past the South Grenville Rangers’ goalie November 27. Going into the game Saturday the Lions had a winning home record of three wins and two losses. The team picked up a pair of losses over the weekend and face the North Dundas Rockets December 4th. (The Leader/Blancher photos)nn
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MORRISBURG – Recording back-to-back losses over the weekend, the Morrisburg Lions remain in seventh place in the National Capital Junior Hockey League.
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Last weekend, the Lions hosted the league-leading South Grenville Rangers, followed by the Vankleek Hill Cougars.
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Throughout Morrisburg’s November 27 tilt with South Grenville, the team kept the pressure on. Down 2-0 late in the first period, Brody Villeneuve (from Malcolm Cooper and Justin Leroux) cut the Rangers’ lead in half for the Lions. But the Rangers responded a minute later to restore the lead, and then added to that lead seconds later. Not tired of the scoring antics on the ice, Lions’ forward Dean Lapier (from Cooper and Jeremy Brooks) found the back of the net to cut the Rangers’ lead in half again. Morrisburg trailed South Grenville 4-2.
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That was all the scoring for the Lions in the game, but it was not for a lack of trying. Throughout the second and third periods, Morrisburg flung everything but the kitchen sink at South Grenville goalie Ben Spicer but couldn’t get anything between the pipes. The Rangers added two goals in the second period, and two more in the third to win 8-2.
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Penalties continue to be a sticking point with Morrisburg as the team collected 28 minutes to South Grenville’s 14. Three out of eight goals scored against the Lions’ netminder tandem of Ben Cherkas and Dawson Irving were on the penalty-kill.
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Scoring for the Rangers in the game were Owen Webster (hat-trick), Noah Penney, Aidan Bailey, Connor VanLuit, Kyle Dillabough, and Zach White.
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Morrisburg took on Vankleek Hill November 28, losing in a 4-0 shutout.
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nnSouth Grenville Rangers’ forward Connor VanLuit fires one by Morrisburg Lions’ goalie Dawson Irving.nn
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The Lions’ kept the game close throughout the first two periods. The Cougars took a 1-0 lead early in the first period with a short-handed goal scored on a Lions’ power-play.
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An even-strength goal in the second, followed by another short-handed goal in the third put the Lions in a hole they could not get out of.
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Vankleek Hill added an insurance goal late in the third, ensuring their shut-out win.
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With a pair of losses by the Almonte Inferno and Metcalfe Jets, the Lions remain in seventh place in the NCJHL but the gap with sixth place continued to widen. Morrisburg now sits seven points behind the sixth place St. Isidore Eagles.
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The Lions host their Dundas County rivals, the North Dundas Rockets, at the Morrisburg Arena December 4. Puck drop is at 7:15 p.m. The team then travel to St. Isidore to face the Eagles Dec. 5.
