Saturday, February 10 – Vankleek Hill Cougars 4, St-Isidore Eagles 3 (OT)
Vankleek Hill Cougars captain Josh Desjardins scored the tying goal with 58 seconds left and then potted the overtime winner, as the Cougars stunned the St-Isidore Eagles for a 4-3 overtime victory on Saturday evening (February 10), to tie the National Capital Junior Hockey League (NCJHL) first-round series between the two local teams at one game apiece.
The win at the Vankleek Hill Community Centre sent home a packed house of local fans happy. Those fans will be back at the same rink, this Saturday (February 17) for Game 3 of the series, which begins at 7:30 p.m. Game 4 goes Sunday (February 18) at the St-Isidore Arena – also a 7:30 p.m. start.
Vankleek Hill and St-Isidore were fourth and fifth in the regular season standings, however only a handful of points separated the two teams. The even matchup between the two teams was on full display over the past weekend, as the two teams split the first two games on their home ice.
Saturday night’s game in Vankleek Hill saw the Cougars jump out to the lead, when Jérémy Marcotte staked the home team to a 1-0 advantage, with a powerplay goal at 15:31 of the first period, assisted by Desjardins and Bruno Lafamboise. But Justin Cloutier responded for St-Isidore with an unassisted powerplay goal early in the second and another unassisted even-strength goal by Kyle Huneault at 12:37 of the period saw the Eagles take a 2-1 lead into the final frame.
Cougars forward Malcolm Seguin briefly tied the game up at 2-2 just after the seven-minute mark of the third period, but an even strength goal by St-Isidore’s Nathan Lassenba restored the Eagles’ one-goal lead.
From there, it was up to Desjardins – who finished with four points on two goals and two assists on the night – to cue the comeback. With Cougars’ netminder Tristan Paquette pulled for an extra attacker in the final minute, Desjardins scored with assists from Zachary Bigras and Andy Lightle-Blais to tie the game up. Then 6:28 into overtime, the Cougars’ captain sent the capacity home crowd into a frenzy, scoring the winning goal from Brenden Easterbrook and Marcotte.
Friday, February 9 – St-Isidore Eagles 6, Vankleek Hill Cougars 3
The St-Isidore Eagles were full value for their 6-3 win in the opening game of the series at the St-Isidore Arena on Friday (February 9), storming back from an early 2-0 deficit to post a dominant 6-3 win over the Vankleek Hill Cougars.
Justin Cloutier scored twice in the St-Isidore victory, while Connor Cook, Alexi Gaudreau, Cedric Hughes, and Tyler Proulx added single markers for the Eagles. Zachary Sullivan had two goals in a losing cause for Vankleek Hill, with Jérémy Marcotte adding a single goal for the visitors.
The Cougars jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first on goals by Marcotte and Sullivan, but first Cook and then Hughes scored late in the frame for the Eagles, to tie the game up at 2-2 heading into the second. St-Isidore then dominated the second period, scoring three times to salt the contest away and take a 5-2 lead into the third.
Cougars forward Malcolm Seguin (4) is stopped by St-Isidore netminder Mathieu Sauvé (33) in Saturday’s 4-3 Cougars win. Seguin later scored early in the third period to tie the game at 2-2. Photo: Reid Masson
