Vankleek Hill Cougars captain Mikael Bissonnette had a hat trick and five points overall, as the local squad capped a solid weekend with a 6-2 win home win over the Westport Rideaus on Saturday evening (December 3).
The Cougars came out firing against the Rideaus (3-16-2-0), with Bissonnette staking the team to a 2-0 first period lead at the Robert Hartley Sports Complex in Hawkesbury by scoring the first two of his three goals. The Cougars captain would later add assists on two goals by Brenden Easterbrook and scored again to completed his hat trick early in the third period.
Alexandre Saul also scored for Vankleek Hill, while rookie netminder Jeremie Tessier stopped 23 of 25 shots to earn the win. The Cougars fired 34 shots at the Westport net.
The win over Westport followed a 6-2 road victory by Vankleek Hill’s Junior C squad over the Metcalfe Jets (1-18-0-0) on Friday evening (December 2) in Metcalfe.
Alexandre Chenier had a hat trick in that contest, while Zachary Bigras added two goals of his own. Andy Lightle-Blais completed the scoring for the Cougars, while Frederick Duroucher-Bourdon earned the win in net.
With the two weekend wins, Vankleek Hill (10-5-0-1) remains in sixth place in the National Capital Junior Hockey League (NCJHL) standings with 21 points. The Cougars now trail the fifth place St-Isidore Eagles (11-6-0-0) by just one point, with a game in hand.
Vankleek Hill and St-Isidore will face off this Saturday, December 10, at the The Bob in Hawkesbury in the battle for fifth place. Game time is 7:30 p.m.
On Sunday, December 11, Vankleek Hill is on the road in South Grenville to face the first place Rangers (14-2-1-0) in a 1 p.m. start at the WTC Communications Centre.
