By Pascal Laliberté
Three-point weekend
The North Dundas Rockets were in Vankleek Hill Saturday in hopes to remain undefeated. Early on, the Cougars took control of the game by scoring two quick goals by Ryan Allen and Max Emond at the start of the first. This didn’t look good for the Rockets but they settled down and started skating with the Cougars. They counter attacked and were able to score to make it 2-1 after period one.
Charles Doyon made it 3-1 at the start of the second but the Rockets replied with two of their own to tie it up. But Doyon wasn’t done and with less than 2 minutes left, he scored two more to make it 5-3 going into the third. On the penalty kill at the start of the third, it was Charles Doyon again with his fourth goal of the night to give the Cougars a comfortable 6-3 lead. Frank Chartrand made it 7-3 but the Rockets weren’t going away that easy. They scored 2 quick ones to make it 7-5 but ran out of gas towards the end of the period. Nik Ayotte and Tyler Dopelhamer added one each to make it a 9-5 win. First junior win for goalie Brennan Nadeau.
A forgettable game
On Sunday, you would think that it was the Cougars that were short staffed! Players seemed to have heavy legs and didn’t use their speed to match The Rockland Nats steady play’s. Rockland got off to a quick 1-0 in the first when Riley Sauvé tied the game up. Discipline hurt Vankleek Hill and Rockland scored one more to make it a 2-1 lead going into the second. Rockland scored another one at the start of the second when Vankleek Hill finally woke up and scored three unanswered goals from Dopelhamer, Charles Doyon and Sauvé to take a 4-3 lead. Everything was under control in the third when Max Emond scored to make it 5-3 but Vankleek Hill let their guard down and Rockland made them pay. The Nats scored twice to tie it up but Vankleek Hill’s Trystan Lavoie scored make it a 6-5 game. With under 3 minutes left, Tyler Druce added another to make it 7-5 hoping for a bit of breathing room but Rockland had other plans. They didn’t quit and tied the game up with just 36 seconds left. Overtime saw both teams miss excellent opportunities to take it but it would be a 7-7 tie. A huge learning moment for the young Cougars. Vankleek Hill will be in Cumberland to play the Bandits next Saturday and are back home on October 22 to face the Embrun Panthers at 7:30 p.m.
