Although their last streak was broken, the Cougars are well into another one.
The Vankleek Hill Cougars continue to build their new winning streak this past weekend with two victories over the Morrisburg Lions and the North Dundas Rockets. The Cougars are powering their way through the league and show no signs of slowing down.
On October 21, the Cougars faced off against the lions on their home turf in the Morrisburg arena. Although the Lions started out strong and gained an early lead, the Cougars quickly shut them out and made an astonishing comeback. The Lions were no match for the fierce fighting and powerful plays by the Cougars, who finished with a 3-1 victory.
“Morrisburg scored the first goal, but we didn’t give up,” coach Jacob Bélanger said. “Seguin tied the game with a power goal, and Mcpherson scored a beautiful shot in the top corner.”
The Cougars’ goals were scored by Malcolm Séguin, Rowan Mcpherson, and Jérémy Marcotte, assisted by Zachary Bigras, Andy Lightle-Blais, Jake Lalonde, and Maxime Laliberté.
The next day on October 22, the Cougars had their first match of the season against the North Dundas Rockets. A lack of experience against this new opponent meant the Cougars got off to a shaky start, with each team scoring one goal in the first period. The Cougars made a quick comeback, scoring two goals in the second period to build up a large lead that the Rockets just couldn’t make up. At the end of the night, the Cougars made a great first impression on the Rockets with a 4-2 victory.
“Our team really dominated the shoot on goal, and we played really good in the first and third periods,” Bélanger said. “Joshua scored a perfect shot with one minute left in the second period. That goal changed the game.”
The Cougars’ goals were scored by Joshua Desjardins and Lightle-Blais, assisted by Laliberté, Brenden Easterbrook, Séguin, and Bigras.
The Cougars’ last game of the month will be on October 29 at the Vankleek Hill Arena against the Almonte Inferno. Before they get there, Bélanger said he wants to train the team in breakouts and power plays.
“We want to establish a power play system so each player knows their role and doesn’t panic with the puck,” he said. “The key in a power play is to set up, take our time to see what the options are, and then pass the puck to make the opposing players move so we can finally shoot at the net. We also want to improve the transition from our defensive zone to the neutral zone. The forwards need to give some options to the defences.”
