Rockets celebrate round one victory
The North Dundas Rockets downed the St. Isidore Eagles in game five of the best of seven NCJHL quarterfinal 3-2 on Fri., March 1 at the Chesterville Arena. The Rockets celebrate the feat by converging on their goal crease. The Rockets now move on to face the Clarence Castors in round two. Moore photo

CHESTERVILLE—The North Dundas Rockets played two playoff games this past week as they travelled to St. Isidore on Thursday night to take on the Eagles in game four and welcomed the Eagles on Friday night for game five.

Rockets 3 Eagles 2

The North Dundas Rockets welcomed the St. Isidore Eagles to the Chesterville Arena on Fri., March 1, for game five of the best of seven NCJHL quarterfinal. The Rockets were coming off a big 4-2 victory the previous night in St. Isidore and had a chance to end the series with a victory. 

The Eagles opened the scoring, when Kevin Howson scored from Tyler Deuce and Jakob Brunette at 4:12 of the first period taking a 1-0 lead. The Rockets tied the game at 17:58 as Kyle Collette roofed one over the Eagles’ goalie, Dawson Irving from Tom Fingler and Matt Cowley. The teams took a one-all draw into the first intermission. 

The Rockets took their first lead of the game as Connor Roth sniped one from Cowley and goalie, Reilly Tondreau just 1:25 into the second period on the power play. 

The Rockets were able to hold the Eagles off the board for the remainder of the second period with Tondreau making some highlight-reel saves. The Rockets took a 2-1 lead into the second period. 

The Rockets made it 3-1 at 2:26 of the third period as Roth scored his second of the game and seventh of the series from Jarrett Williams and Tondreau. The Eagles made it interesting as Ryan Wells slid one home from Bruno Leclerc at the 12-minute mark of the third to make it 3-2. 

With just under two minutes remaining, the Eagles pulled their goalie in favour of an extra attacker but couldn’t establish pressure in the Rockets’ end. The Rockets forced the Eagles to play in the neutral zone not allowing them to enter their zone as time was winding down. 

The clock was the Eagles’ enemy in this game as it wound down to zero. The Rockets took the victory, ending the Eagles’ post season. With the win, the Rockets now move on to play the first-place Clarence Castors who knocked off the Gatineau Hull-Volant in four games straight. 

Picking up the win in the Rockets’ goal was Tondreau making 28 saves on 30 shots and suffering the loss in the Eagles’ goal was Irving making 31 saves on 34 shots.

The Rockets’ forward, Hugo Lusignan (8) crashes the net looking for a rebound after his teammate, Connor Roth (25) took a shot on goal. The Eagles’ defensemen, Bruno Leclerc (28) and Jeremy Arbour (20) try to take care of Lusignan as goalie, Dawson Irving tries to locate the puck. The Rockets went on to take the game 3-2 and the series, four games to one. Moore photo

Rockets 4 Eagles 2

The North Dundas Rockets travelled to the St. Isidore Arena on Thurs., Feb. 28, to take on the Eagles in game four the best of seven NCJHL quarterfinal. The Rockets went into the game with a two games to one lead and looked to add pressure on the Eagles before heading home for game five. 

The Rockets took game one 4-3 in double overtime, game two 4-3 in overtime but lost 4-2 to the Eagles in game three. The Rockets opened the scoring when Connor Roth scored an unassisted goal just 40 seconds into the first period to take a 1-0 lead. 

The Rockets made it 2-0 when Brad Nash slapped one home from Justin Lefebvre at 7:24 and took that lead into the first intermission. The Rockets took a three goal lead when Kyle Collette snapped one to the back of the net from Roth and Hugo Lusignan just 1:53 into the second period. 

The Rockets kept the pressure on as Roth scored his second of the game unassisted at 8:17. The Eagles finally got on the scoreboard at 9:59 as Kevin Howson scored from Jakob Brunette and Zachary Bougie but the Rockets took the 4-1 lead into the second intermission. 

Neither team was able to score until the Eagles got to within two at 17:09 as Ryan Wells scored from Xavier Leclerc and Bruno Leclerc to make it 4-2. The Rockets were able to hold the Eagles at bay for the remainder of the game taking a 4-2 victory. 

With the win, the Rockets headed home with a chance to finish off the Eagles in game five. Picking up the win in the Rockets’ goal was Reilly Tondreau and suffering the loss in the Eagles’ goal was Dawson Irving.

Up next

The North Dundas Rockets travel to the Clarence Creek Arena to take on the Castors in game one of the NCJHL semifinal on Fri., March 8, 6:30 p.m. and welcome the Castors to the Chesterville Arena on Sat., March 9, at 7:30 p.m. for game two. Game three will be in Clarence Creek on Sun., March 10, at 2:15 p.m.