Morrisburg Jr Lions open regular season Saturday, Sept. 23rd at home . . .
Lions record clean pre-season sweep . . .
Junior Lions Alex Bergeron scores his second goal of the game on Sunday afternoon
at Morrisburg Arena. The local Lions played two pre-season games, winning both
over the Almonte Inferno and the Westport Rideaus . . .
Sunday, Sept. 17th - South Dundas’ Morrisburg Junior Lions hockey entry in the National Capital Junior Hockey League will kick off their home schedule on Saturday, Sept. 23rd at 7:15 p.m. at Morrisburg Arena. To the delight of many hockey fans across the community and beyond the Lions will host the Almonte Inferno, a team they whipped on home ice in a preseason encounter on Sunday, Sept. 17th scoring a 6-4 win in front of a strong following of fans. The on ice action offered promise of a great season to come for the Lions.
The Inferno and the locals continue to gather suitable team members, many of who took part in Sunday afternoon's contest here. The Lions dressed a trio of net minders for the game, including newcomers Nick Lyons and Carter Veurtje along with regular Andrew Brooks. Other newcomer hopefuls seeking to join the Junior squad this season include local talent protecting the twine, Aiden Hutt and Owen Villeneuve, both who viewed the game from the sidelines.
The Lions continue to look at defensive players in an effort to add size and strength, have added a few faces to the front lines, including Ashton Adams, a 6’ 2”, 180 pound talent out of Brasher Falls, New York. Adams was sporting sweater #18 in Sunday’s game, and scored the only goal of the final period in the home team’s victory. Another new face who in the early going appears capable of stealing at least part of the fan favourite title is Tristan Ethier, a graduate of the Hull Olympiques Midget AA program. Ethier keeps his somewhat slight 5' 7", 145 pound frame in the heat of the action every second he’s on the ice. Tristan too recored a point on Sunday assisting on Alex Bergeron’s game opening goal.
Rylan Iwachniuk and Alex Bergeron led the home team over the Inferno, each with a pair of counters and single assists. Bergeron snapped a shot past Braden Henderson midway through the opening period with Iwachiuk and Ethier providing the help. Fifteen seconds later Ben Lapier followed Bergeron’s goal with an unassisted marker when he burst across the Almonte blueline and unloaded a heavy wrist shot to the far side of the net.
Iwachniuk registered his first goal on a Bergeron assist just a minute after Lapier’s counter, closing the frame scoring with a 3-0 Lion's lead.
Morrisburg switched net minders for the middle frame and Almonte was quick to spot an opportunity to even the count. Wyatt Baker and Zednick Boucher each scored a single marker to drawn the Inferno within a goal before Iwachniuk notched his second on an unassisted power play marker. Bergeron added his second of the afternoon from Josh Broad and Ben Lapier to put the Lions up on a 5-2 count.
Daniel Berti brought the visitors to within a pair of goals when he tallied an Inferno goal five minutes into the 3rd- frame before Ashton Adams bent the twine for the Lions on his unassisted 3rd-period marker. Zednick Boucher scored the final goal of the game, another unassisted point, beating the Lion’s defence and net minder with six minutes remaining in the game. Daniel Berti, Heath Couture, Russell Jean-Pierre, Wyatt Baker and Max Henkel with a pair of points drew assists throughout the game for Almonte.
The Morrisburg Lions will again host the Almonte Inferno in their 2023 season opening game on Saturday, Sept. 23rd, in Morrisburg with the official puck-drop scheduled for 7:15 p.m. On Sunday, Sept. 24th the Lions will travel to Cumberland’s Ray Friel Recreation Complex to take on the Cumberland Castors in a 7:20 p.m. start. The Castors entertained four pre-season encounters, bouncing the home team Metcalfe Jets in a 4-1 win after losing to the Jets on their own home ice by a 6-3 margin. The Castors also lost a pair of games to the 2022 Champion Gatineau Hull-Volant on 8-0 and 4-2 scores earlier in this year’s start-up series.
