«Saturday night was a good game,” said Head Coach Franky Dopelhamer during a Monday phone interview, adding that the Cougars let their guard down on Sunday.
Dopelhamer admitted to surprise at the fan turnout for Sunday’s game. Even though it was Superbowl Sunday and many sports fans were home watching the Kansas City Chiefs take the trophy, there were still between 125 to 150 local fans sitting in the bleachers at the Robert Hartley Sports Complex in Hawkesbury to cheer on the Cougars.
The Cougars got on the scoreboard first Saturday night with a goal during the first two minutes of play from Joshua Desjardins, with help from John Mahoney and Sam Guay. Gatineau tied up the score at the end of the period and then took a one-point lead at the end of second with two more goals against one more for Vankleek Hill from Desjardins, aided by Mikael Bissonnette and Eric Skyba.
Skyba tied up the score with a power-play goal in the last three minutes of third period. Bissonnette and Brenden Easterbrook lent him a hand. The game went into overtime with Desjardins claiming the win for Vankleek Hill with a hat trick, aided by Bissonnette and Zachary Bigras.
Sunday’s home for the Cougars against the Castors ended in a 5-1 loss for Vankleek Hill. Bigras scored the lone Cougars goal in second period with help from Desjardins and Maxime Laliberté.
The Cougars are on the road for their next three games this week with a Valentine’s Day night match in St-Isidore, then Friday against South Grenville, and Saturday in Clarence Creek, before returning home to the Den Sunday evening to host the Westport Rideaus.
