The Rockets’ forward, Jarrett Williams (27) scores on a breakaway here, giving the Rockets a 3-0 lead. The Rangers’ goalie Lee Spurgeon went for the Eddie Bauer poke-check but Williams was able to roof the puck over Spurgeon’s shoulder. The Rockets went on to take the game 4-3 in overtime. Moore photo

CHESTERVILLE—The North Dundas Rockets played two home games this past week as they welcomed the South Grenville Rangers on Saturday night and the St. Isidore Eagles on Monday.

Eagles 8 Rockets 6 

The North Dundas Rockets welcomed the St. Isidore Eagles to the Chesterville Arena on Mon., Feb. 11, in the NCJHL. The game was a make-up game after the game was postponed from the previous week. 

The Rockets went into the game in second place in the West Division; five points behind the South Grenville Rangers in first place after the Rangers beat the West Carleton Inferno in their previous game. 

The Eagles opened the scoring just 42 seconds into the first period taking a 1-0 lead. The Rockets tied the game at 5:27 as Connor Roth slapped one home from Matt Cowley and Will Watson. 

The Rockets welcomed a new face to their lineup on Saturday night in their game against the South Grenville Rangers; Kyle Collette was introduced to the Rockets’ faithful. Collette is a speedy forward and has won a championship with the Casselman Vikings of the CCHL2 in 2016 and went on to play for the Syracuse Jr. Stars in 2017 and 2018. He recently suited up for the SUNY Brockport Golden Eagles in the NCAA Division III. Moore photo

The Eagles retook the lead at 15:58 and took a two-goal lead with just 49 seconds remaining in the opening frame. The Eagles took a 3-1 lead into the first intermission. 

The Eagles made it 4-1 at 4:43 and took a 5-1 lead at 5:50. The Rockets finally got back on the scoreboard at 11:06 as Hugo Lusignan lit the lamp from Zack Parent and Carter Tait but the Eagles restored their four-goal lead at 11:36. The Rockets cut the deficit in half when Kyle Collette scored his first goal as a Rocket from Justin Lefebvre and Brad Nash, but again, the Eagles retook a four-goal lead with 1:40 remaining in the middle frame. The Eagles took a five-goal lead with just 35 seconds remaining and took a 8-3 lead into the second intermission. 

The Rockets pulled their starting goalie, Reilly Tondreau for the start of the third period replacing him with Caleb Gervais. 

That seemed to spark the Rockets as Collette scored his second goal of the game just 31 seconds into the third period from Lefebvre and Pierce Egan to make it 8-4. The Rockets closed the gap to three when Egan slammed home a rebound from Roth and Lusignan at 15:25. 

The Rockets got to within two as Lefebvre pounded one home from Brody Barkley and Roth on the power play. The Rockets pulled their goalie in favour of an extra attacker with just under two minutes remaining and put the pressure on the Eagles but were unable to get any closer as the Eagles hung on to take the game 8-6. 

With the loss, the Rockets failed to gain ground on the first place Rangers. The Eagles outshot the Rockets 51-42, suffering the loss in the Rockets’ goal was Tondreau making 22 saves and backup goalie Gervais, who stopped all 12 shots he faced.

The Rockets’ forward, Dylan Robinson (28) tries to corral a rebound from a shot from the point while the Eagles’ goalie, Dawson Irving gets snowed under. Eagles defensemen, Philippe Burden clears the puck. The Eagles out gunned the Rockets 8-6  in a possible playoff preview. Moore photo

Rockets 4 Rangers 3 (OT)

The North Dundas Rockets welcomed the South Grenville Rangers to the Chesterville Arena on Sat., Feb. 9, in the NCJHL. The Rockets went into the game in second place in the West Division, five points behind the Rangers who held down the top spot. 

The Rockets opened the scoring at 3:06 of the first period as Will Watson slid one home from Carter Tait taking a 1-0 lead. The Rockets took a two-goal lead when Tyler Ballantyne scored his first goal as a Rocket, as he floated one through a screen in front of the net that found its way through at 8:27 from Connor Roth and Jack Van Kessel. The Rockets took a 2-0 lead into the first intermission. 

The Rockets made it 3-0 when Jarrett Williams scored on a breakaway at 17:51 from Cameron Brown and Brad Stitt but the Rangers got that one right back with just 48 seconds remaining in the middle frame as Brody Ranger scored from Cole Edgley and Kieran Clement. The Rockets took a 3-1 lead into the second intermission. 

The Rangers closed the gap to one as Tristan Loomis scored from Cameron Dillon at 10:56. The Rangers knotted the affair as Edgley scored from Sam Martin at 12:54. 

Neither team was able to score before the time wound down to nil, so the game headed to a five-minute three-on-three overtime period. At 2:14 of the overtime the Rockets’ defenseman, Matt Cowley joined a two-on-one rush with Roth. 

Roth saucered the puck to Cowley and he roofed it over the Rangers’ goalie, Lee Spurgeon. The Rockets took the game 4-3 moving to within three points of the Rangers in first place. The Rockets outshot the Rangers 39-33. 

Picking up the win in the Rockets’ goal was Reilly Tondreau making 30 saves and suffering the loss in the Rangers’ goal was Spurgeon making 35 saves.

Up next

The Rockets travel to the Larry Robinson Arena in Metcalfe on Fri., Feb. 15, to take on the Jets at 8:15 p.m., and welcome the West Carleton Inferno to the Chesterville Arena on Sun., Feb. 17, at 12 p.m. The Rockets then travel to the NCJHL Spring Showcase at the Bernard Grandmaître Aréna on Mon., Feb. 18 at 1:30 p.m., to take on the St. Isidore Eagles and welcome the West Carleton Inferno to the Joel Steele Community Centre in Winchester on Tues., Feb. 19, at 8:30 p.m.