email: southdundasinbox@gmail.com

Everybody dives in to stop the opposing team from scoring!!! South Dundas' U-15 Rep Lions

are a tough squad to get around as shown in this photo from Friday evening's win over

the Brockville Braves. Although the visitors to Morrisburg Arena put up a good effort,

the Lions worked a patient, tough checking game that provided a 4-2 win . . .

Friday, Jan. 10th - Coach Jason Martens’ U15-Rep Lions do have a statistical shot at winning their regular season, even though that shot demands a looming, and what will no doubt be, an all out battle with the Kemptville Royals. That game, slated for Morrisburg Arena on Wednesday, Jan. 22nd at 7:30 pm should be a doozy!

        The Royals are currently leading the regular season wins, points and 'goals against' columns on the ‘standings’ chart. The Lions are three points back, 17 goals ahead in the ‘goals for’ column, and owe the Royals a game in hand.

        South Dundas is scheduled for seven more games in this regular season, not including the two points they stole from the  Brockville Braves on Friday evening at Morrisburg arena. The highlight of that game was that the Lions iced a squad stitched together with four affiliate players while four of their regulars are nursing injuries. 

        Speedster and always hot scorer Will MacPherson and slick stick-handling marksman Grayson Casselman are both sorely missed on the offensive side of the Lions attack. Two of the team’s defensive forwards, Hudson Shaver and Logan Veerman are also riding the band aid box. Replacements Charlie Priestman, Will Cummings and Peyden Wilson were impressive in their fill-in roles. Back-up netminder Liam Barkley didn’t get an opportunity to get into the action as regular Lincoln Robinson, with an abundance of support on excellent defensive play by the team’s regulars, was stellar between the pipes for South Dundas on Friday night.

        On the offensive side of the 4-2 victory Simon Martens led the Lions with three points after defenceman Charlie Sears backed the visiting Braves into their own end and fired a screened shot over the arm of Braves back stop Grasen Burns for the game’s opening goal.

        Brockville tied the count two minutes later when Cohen Bowler slipped a Chris Farrah pass over Robinson’s shoulder and into the Lion’s cage.

        Simon Martens corralled a rebound off Burns pad in the dying minutes of the first frame, handing Jackson Dunning an opportunity he couldn’t miss. And he didn’t!

        The Braves notched the only goal of the middle period on a Lochlan Brown shot through a maze of bodies blocking Robinson’s ability to view the action. Beckett Francis picked up the helper on that tying goal. 

        In the final period the Lions baited the Braves, taking hits and rebounding quickly on the attack that wore on the visitors defence. Simon Martens again intercepted passes and captured rebounds, offering up scoring chances for the Lions marksmen. On two of those occasions team Captain Taylor Elliott lasered the puck past Burns, recording the winning and the insurance markers for yet another victory by South Dundas.

        The  Lions are on the road on Monday, Jan. 13th to face off against the Char-Lan Rebels before returning to Morrisburg Arena Wednesday, Jan. 22nd for a 7:30 pm opening face-off against the Royals.

        That stage is set for a showdown!!! 

Thursday, Jan. 9th - South Dundas’ U11-B Rep Lions are closing in on a near perfect season. Top spot in the regular season standings, three wins and four points over their closest rival. Fifteen wins in sixteen games. A single loss, 3-1, way back on Wednesday, Nov. 6th to the North-Glen-Stor Braves. 

        These Lions are a split hair off scoring four goals per game while allowing just 1.3 goals against per outing so far this season.  And they are currently riding an 11-game winning streak. For local hockey fans, the South Dundas team hosts the 11th-place Smiths Falls Bears on Saturday at Morrisburg, noon sharp, before hosting the 8th-place Char-Lan Rebels on Sunday afternoon at Morrisburg in a 4:00 p.m. puck-drop.

        On Thursday evening at Morrisburg the U11’s put in a sluggish start before opening up for three counters in two minutes midway through the final frame to capture a 4-1 victory over the Leeds Chargers. Parker Johnson put on a sparkling performance to lead his line-mates in the short-lived scoring raid. Johnson set up Jack Heuff for the night’s winning goal before scoring the next two counters, the first organized by Heuff and the second on an unassisted effort. 

        South Dundas’ Harris Smail had secured the Lions a lead in the opening period when he rushed out of his own end of the ice, beat the Chargers defence and wired a shot past Leeds’ netminder Sam Cowan. The Chargers tied the game late in the middle period on Sawyer Wykes marker with line mate Jace Bruyere serving up the scoring opportunity that eluded replacement Lions’ netminder Ben Langlois. Regular South Dundas goal tender Emmett Cooper-Kirkhof has been sidelined suffering an unspecified bug.

        Saturday at noon, Sunday at 4:00 p.m., Morrisburg Arena, for South Dundas Minor Hockey’s hottest team.

Saturday, Jan. 4th -  Morrisburg Curling Club's U15 representative team travelled to Prescott over the past weekend to compete in an invitational bonspiel marking their initial participation in a bonspiel this season. The local team forced the Russell Curling Club's entry to defend their tight lead thru the last end before bowing to the victors in their morning game. 

        Returning to the ice in a afternoon challenge against Ottawa's Carlton Heights, the eventual 2nd-place winner of the event, the Morrisburg ladies agains forced play to the final rocks prior to bowing out of the bonspiel. Included on the Morrisburg team in the above photo are, left to right, Tianna Van de Kamp, Trinity Beckstead, Karlena Beckstead and Lena Byvelds.               - photo supplied by Morrisburg Curling Club

Thursday, Jan. 9th - South Dundas’ U18 B House hockey squad continue to hold off three Kemptville teams while sitting back four points of the front running North Dundas Demons. The tight race in the 11-team U18 division includes, in numerical order of standings, North Dundas, South Dundas, Kemptville 1 and Kemptville 2.

        On Thursday evening at Morrisburg Arena the Lions hosted the South Grenville 1 entry to a game in which the visitors grabbed a 1-0 opening period lead. South Dundas came alive in the middle frame with five unanswered markers to eventually score a 7-3 victory.

        Orien Cowan beat Lion’s cage guard Logan Hogan late in the first frame for a 1-0 lead, recording the only scoring point of the frame.

        Through the middle period the Lions directed the Rangers, firing five consecutive counters. Bryce Kirkwood, Logan Casselman, Skyler Keeler, Austin Workman and Mason Roderick all managed to put the puck behind the Ranger’s Cole Clarke for the 5-1 lead.

         In the final period each team added a pair of counters on goals by the Lion’s Roderick and Henry Martens answered by the Rangers Dan Milk and Orien Cowan.

         The U18-B house Lions next host the Leeds Chargers on Thursday, Jan. 16th in an 8:00 p.m. puck drop.

Back row: Jaylynn Whitehead, Ruby Campbell, Bridget Murphy, Ella Leonard, Asia McBride, Ava Tuttle.

Front row: Kamryn Larocque, Elizabeth McBride, Darrah Samson, Summer Covey, Madi Glashan,

Abby Burwood, Maya Emery. Net minder: Hailie Cooper

        Congratulations to the Brockville Angels Girl's Hockey team, and especially to our own Kamryn Larocque (who patrols the Angel's blue line) of South Dundas on winning the Scarborough Sharks New Year's Classic Hockey Tournament.

        The Brockville Angels U18 Girl's Hockey team kicked off the new year on a high note. The team went undefeated to win the New Year’s Classic Tournament in Scarborough, On.  Icing an impressive defensive display and allowing just three 'goals against' on the 4-game road to the final, the Angels secured a hard-fought 4-2 victory over the Nepean Wildcats, showcasing their exceptional teamwork, disciplined defence, and clutch offensive performance.

        The team's dominance at both ends of the ice and their well deserved tournament victory solidified the Angel's reputation as one of the elite teams in Eastern Ontario. 

Wednesday, Jan. 8th - An ongoing joint forces operation led by the Ontario Provincial Police Border Enforcement Security Task Force and Canada Border Services Agency, with assistance from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Department of Homeland Security Investigations, and the Akwesasne Mohawk Police Service, revealed evidence for a traffic stop under the Excise Act. 

All In Sports, a pilot program of inclusion for all students looking to join various sports activities . . .

Tuesday, Jan. 7th - The Upper Canada District School Board is excited to announce the launch of a new sports initiative that will be piloted in 2025. All-In Sports is a pilot program intended to expand sport opportunities for Kindergarten to Grade 8 students across the district. 

        As presented to and approved by the Board of Trustees in December, the All-In Sports league will provide all young interested athletes the opportunity to learn and play sports in a structured environment. Local competitions that will allow more students to attend more sporting events will be a focus for this new league. 

        Students will have the opportunity to play traditional sports such as basketball, soccer, volleyball, etc. but also learn new sports and activities such as handball, korfball and ultimate frisbee. This new league will run in addition to any intramurals that currently take place at schools, not replace it. 

        “As a former physical education teacher, coach, and huge supporter of student athletics, I am thrilled that we are in a position to make the significant financial commitment necessary for this enhanced and expanded sports league that will benefit all of our students,” says UCDSB Chair Jamie Schoular.

        All-In Sports will be at no cost to families but is a financial investment for the UCDSB. This new league will follow best practices as developed by the Coaching Association of Canada and Ophea to ensure a safe, engaging but valuable sporting experience for young athletes. 

        A steering committee of community members, educators and coaches has been established with representation from across the district. A partnership with the Rick Hansen Foundation has also been formed. To date, 20 schools are part of the official pilot with more than 25 schools requesting to come on board. 

        “Our aim is to increase student participation in sports and activities. Our hope is that the pilot goes well and that we can expand it to all elementary and intermediate schools next school year. There are numerous physical and psychological benefits to being involved in sports, and we want to ensure that all students get the opportunity,” adds Schoular. 

        We have attempted to include photos each year, when time allows, of the non-competitive hockey crowd. We're not talking about any Men's League here. We're talking about the U9 teams and younger who are learning their way around the ice, and who do in fact have a few games through the winter season.

        As those who have youngsters signed up for the South Dundas Minor Hockey Association's program do know, no record of goals, wins and losses is kept. Except of course in the minds of these young players themselves. They neither hesitate or show any facial expressions of an untruth in telling you they won, each and every time out. Regardless of who you may pretend to be interviewing, 'the other team' (because we forgot their name) never wins. And for the most part, the score runs around 23-5.

        On Tuesday evening, Jan. 7th, we went to the U9 Tier 2 game between Kemptville and South Dundas. And although the visiting Royals did start out netting a few counters early, the Lions commanded the second period (they only have two) eventually winning the game on a 23-5 score. How crazy is that?!!!

        We've posted some 50 photos here, hopefully you'll enjoy adding them to your family collections . . .

South Dundas Lion's Corson Gilmour (left) cruises in from the left side of Smiths Falls Bears'

netminder Jaxxon Sinclair on Monday evening at Morrisburg Arena. Gilmour led South

Dundas' U18-B squad with a pair of goals and a pair of assists in the team's 5-1 victory . . .  . . . 

Monday, Jan. 6th - South Dundas’ U18-B House team in the Upper Canada Minor Hockey League are down to nine games remaining in their regular season schedule. Four of those games will be on home ice where the team has suffered only two losses over the current season, including a 2-0 loss to the 7th-place Leeds Chargers on November 21st and a 5-3 loss to the 5th-place Kemptville Royals 1 on December 12th. These Lions are standing in 3rd-place, a single point behind the Kemptville Royals 3 club, hold 2-games in hand and are 6-points back of the leading North Dundas Demons after 19-games.

        On Monday evening at Morrisburg Arena the Lions whipped the bottom dwelling Smiths Falls entry on a 5-1 score leaving the Bears with a single win after 16-games. Smiths Falls brings a credible work ethic to every game they've attended this season. Unfortunately, a serious lack of defence and shooting skills haunts the team, to date registering just 27 goals for and 121 goals against. Their netminder, Jaxxon Sinclair, gets bombed with shote almost every time out.

        Comparatively, South Dundas boasted five different players who scored a goal in the Monday evening game, along with four others who counted assists on the scoring plays. Corson Gilmour hammered a pair of counters and took part in setting up another two goals in this game.

        The Lions grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first period and outscored their opponents 3-1 over the final frame for the victory. Jason Langois opened the game scoring when he beat Bears cage keeper Jaxxon Sinclair. Skyler Keeler and Corson Gilmour set up the even strength marker. Gilmour fired his first on the night midway through the 1st-period, this one on a Henry Martens play.

        Neither team managed a goal in the middle frame of this game, but both did visit the penalty bench with the Lions winning that aspect of the game on a 6-2 count.

        Austin Workman put South Dundas in front 3-0 early in the final period when Martens worked the puck to the front of the net. The Bears Lucas Purdy snapped an Aydon Flagella opportunity behind South Dundas netkeeper Logan Hoger just before Conor McCurdy extended the home team’s lead to 4-1, again on a Gilmour plan.

        Corson Gilmour closed the game scoring when he picked up the puck in front of the Bears goal mouth and beat Sinclair for the final counter of the night. McCurdy and Keeler drew assists on that one.

        On  Thursday evening, Jan. 9th the U18-B Lions host the 8th-place South Grenville Rangers at Morrisburg Arena in an 8:00 p.m. start. The Rangers consistently bring an “all-out” effort to each and every game.

Norman McLeod, one of the last ship's moving as the St. Lawrence Seaway prepares for closing . . .

        Upper Canada Playhouse’s newly announced 2025 Season will again offer audiences professional live theatre and music throughout the entire year. Over the past several seasons The Playhouse’s main summer season of comedies has been augmented with live concerts. Including in the winter, spring and fall and a family show at Christmas.

        This lengthening of the theatre’s season has been very popular with audiences and has also increased the impact The Playhouse makes on both the local economy and tourist industry.