March 27 Page 14_Layout 2 13-03-26 2:22 PM Page 1
Page 14 The Chesterville Record
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Eastern Sting ready to defend their National title
Ready to defend their title!
The Eastern Sting, men’s juvenile broomball team won the Monday night Russell League recently and will now turn their attention to defending their National Championship when the 2013 tournament takes place in Cornwall, April 3-6. Front row, from left: Nathan Muir, Thomas St. Pierre, Cameron Muir, Jacob Byers, Zachary Leclerc, Quinn Ouderkirk; Back: Clayton Ouderkirk (Coach), Bradley Nicola, Andreas Haller, Colton Kelly, Patrick Moran, Troy Shane, Connor Hanna, Coltin McMahon and Karl Moran (Ass’t Coach). Missing from photo are: Lyle Beckett, Kyle Beehler, Colby Huybregts, Parker MacDonald, Ben Patterson, Brett Postumus, Justin St. Pierre (Trainer) and Kyle Seifreid. Courtesy photo
RUSSELL— The Eastern Sting broomball team will be defending their national championship title when they take part in the 2013 Canadian Juvenile Broomball Championship, April 3-6 in Cornwall. Some of the best broomball players aged 19 and under from across the country will play at the Benson Centre in Cornwall over four days, with the championship for both ladies and
men taking place on Saturday, April 6. The Eastern Sting also won the national qualifying tournament in November and took home silver at the provincial championships February in Barrie . They will face teams from Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan. For more information, including s c h e d u l e s , visit www.2013juvenilebroomballnationals.com.
Eagles/Bandits meet in NCJHL finals ST- ISIDORE— The finals are set in the National Capital Junior Hockey League as it will be the top two teams from the regular season squaring off. The St. Isidore Eagles were last year’s runners up, but had a tremendous regular season as they earned the top record overall and in the South Division of 30-2-2 for 62 points. Their opponents will be the Cumberland Bandits. Cumberland was second overall and the top team in the North Division with a record of 24-6-4 for 52 points. Playoffs St. Isidore entered the finals series still perfect in the post season. They began their quest at unfinished business with a four-game sweep of cellar dwellers Vankleek Hill. St. Isidore outscored Vankleek Hill 21-7 in four games. St. Isidore continued to dominate in the second round as they swept Rockland, outscoring them 25-11.
As for the Bandits, their road was not as easy. In their opening round series against the North Dundas Rockets, they dropped the first game before wining the next four for a 4-1 series win. Their second round series went the full seven games with the Embrun Panthers. Cumberland was down at one point 3-1, but won game five, six and seven to complete the comeback and earn a spot in the finals. By eliminating the Panthers, the four-time defending champions, it is guaranteed that the league will crown a new champion for the first time since 2008 when the East Ottawa Thunder, now La Peche Predators, won the title. The match up The championship should be an intriguing one as it showcases the top offensive team, St. Isidore (194 goals for during the regular season), against the best defensive, Cumberland (101 goals
against during the regular season). The two teams split the season series with two wins each. Interestingly, the home teams won all of the meetings this season. The difference in the series might come down to fatigue. St. Isidore had a nine-day layoff between the win over Rockland and game one on March 24. As for Cumberland, after their seven game series, they opened the next day against St. Isidore. Game two went the following night March 25, in Cumberland, making it three games in three days for the Bandits. Results Game one on March 24 continued the pattern of the regular season meetings with St. Isidore winning 3-0 on home ice. Game two went the following night in Cumberland, March 25 with the Bandits winning 5-3.
There will be a new Jr. C Champion
The Cumberland Bandits celebrate a goal in game six of their semi-final NCJHL series against the Embrun Panthers. After falling behind 3-1, the Bandits came all the way back and won the series in seven, ending the Panthers drive for five straight titles. Cumberland meets St. Isidore who made quick work of Rockland in their semi-final with a sweep. The two teams split the opening games March 24 and 25. Matte photo
Vikes on verge of elimination CASSELMAN— After winning their second consecutive St. Lawrence Division title, the Casselman Vikings now find themselves one game away from elimination in the Rideau-St. Lawrence Conference championship against the Athens Aeros. Casselman is making their second-straight appearance in the conference finals, while Athens is looking to avoid being the EOJHL’s equivalent of the Buffalo Bills as they search for their first victory, in the series, in four-straight attempts. Casselman took the opening game of the series on March 17 in Casselman 5-3. Taylor Widenmaier continued his dominant play with a hat trick in the win. Casselman
led 5-1 before Athens scored a pair in the third to make it close. After game one, it has been all Aeros. They took game two on March 19 in front of their home crowd. The teams traded goals all game and needed overtime to produce a winner. Midway through the overtime period Michael Byrne scored to give Athens the 6-5 win and tie in the series. Game three, March 21 in Casselman also needed overtime to decide a winner. With Athens up 3-2 heading to the third, the teams combined for seven goals and Casselman’s Adam Wensink scored with three seconds to go, forcing it into extra time. However, with less than a minute to play
in the overtime period, J.P. Augustine scored for Athens giving them the 7-6 win and 2-1 series lead. Things continued to go Athens way in game four, March 24 in Athens. Athens took a one-goal lead to the third and then made it a twogoal game with 10:02 to play. Simon Cousineau got the Vikings to within one, but they couldn’t get any closer as they took the loss 5-4. Athens now holds a commanding 3-1 series lead and could have wrapped things up last night in Casselman. The Vikings battled back twice in their St. Lawrence Division series with Akwesasne, but check next week’s Record to see if they were able to stay alive against the Aeros.
Vikings down 3-1 to Aeros
Casselman’s Sam McLaughlin is in alone with Athens goalie Erik Miksik but can’t find a way to beat him in Game three on March 21 in Casselman. Athens went on to win this game along with game four and now holds a 3-1 series lead. Matte photo