The Rockets welcomed their newest addition, Jack Gill (22) who played most of his junior career with the Brockville Braves of the CCHL. Gill picked up an assist and a penalty in his premier with the Rockets. The Rockets went on to take the game 8-6. Moore photo
Jeff Moore
Record Staff
CHESTERVILLE — The North Dundas Rockets played two games this past weekend as they travelled to Carp on Friday night to take on the West Carleton Inferno and welcomed the Bytown Royals on Saturday night.
Rockets 8 Royals 6
The North Dundas Rockets welcomed the Bytown Royals to the Chesterville Arena on Sat., Nov. 10, in the NCJHL. The Rockets were coming off an easy 9-3 victory over the West Carleton Inferno the previous night as they took sole possession of first place, two points up on the South Grenville Rangers.
The Royals opened the scoring just 32 seconds into the first period to take a 1-0 lead but the Rockets countered less than a minute later as Connor Roth lit the lamp from Cameron Brown and Justin Lefebvre at 1:44. The teams took a one-all stalemate into the first intermission.
The Royals retook the lead just 1:12 into the second period and made it 3-1 at 2:44. The Royals made it 4-1 at 3:09 surprising the Rockets. The Rockets cut the deficit in half when Lefebvre snapped one home from Matt Cowley and Brad Stitt at 5:24 and made it a 4-3 game at 7:25 as Roth scored his second of the game from Tom Fingler and Cowley while shorthanded.
The Royals restored their two-goal lead at 11:42 on the power play but the Rockets answered right back as Fingler pounded home a rebound from newcomer Jack Gill and Roth making it 5-4. The Rockets tied the game when Lefebvre sniped his second of the game from Stitt and Fingler with just 1:18 remaining.
It appeared the game was heading into the second intermission tied at five but the Royals retook the lead with just 33 seconds remaining in the middle frame. The Royals took a 6-5 lead into the second intermission.
The Rockets tied the game again when Roth fired home his hat trick goal at 10:54 of the third period from Brown and Fingler to make it 6-6. The Rockets took their first lead of the game at 15:46 as Lefebvre also completed his hat trick from Fingler and Cowley on the power play.
The Rockets made it 8-6 when Stitt slapped one home from Lefebvre and Cowley on another power play with just 35 seconds remaining in the game. The Rockets hung on for the 8-6 come-from-behind victory.
The Rockets were unable to gain ground over the Rangers as they won the same night but they still owned sole possession of first place. Picking up the victory in the Rockets’ goal was Reilly Tondreau making 26 saves on 31 shots.
Rockets 9 Inferno 3
The North Dundas Rockets travelled to the W. Erskine Johnston Arena in Carp on Fri., Nov. 9, to take on the West Carleton Inferno in the NCJHL. The Rockets were coming off a six-all draw against the Clarence Castors and were riding a six-game undefeated streak. During the streak, the Rockets moved up the standings and had a chance to move into sole possession of first place with a win.
The Inferno opened the scoring at the six-minute mark of the first period to take a 1-0 lead. The Rockets tied the game at 7:03 as Connor Roth scored an unassisted goal but the Inferno answered at 15:06 to retake the lead.
The Rockets got back to even when Brad Nash snapped one home from Justin Lefebvre and Brad Stitt with 2:18 remaining in the opening frame. The teams took a two-all deadlock into the first intermission.
The Rockets took their first lead of the game when Roth scored his second from Will Watson at 2:52 into the second period. The Rockets took a two-goal lead when Roth completed his hat trick at 13:04 from Lefebvre.
The Inferno got one back with 1:55 remaining in the middle frame but trailed 4-3 heading into the first intermission. It was all Rockets in the third period beginning with Nash scoring his second of the game from Stitt on the power play at 3:16 of the third period.
The Rockets made it 6-3 when Nash completed his hat trick from Lefebvre and Stitt at 3:43 and 7-3 as Stitt pounded one to the back of the net from Lefebvre and Roth. The Rockets took an 8-3 lead when Kobey Young scored his first junior goal as a Rocket at 13:30 from McKay Balaton and Jack Van Kessel.
The Rockets closed out the scoring with 1:25 remaining in the game as Cameron Brown fired one home from Lefebvre and took the game easily by a score of 9-3. With the win, the Rockets moved into sole possession of first place in the West Division, two points ahead of the South Grenville Rangers who were idle.
The Rockets outshot the Inferno 35-21. Picking up the win in the Rockets’ goal was Caleb Gervais making 32 saves on 35 shots.
Robs Review
Rob Sadler,
GM, North Dundas Rockets
Ultimately, from an organizational stand point it was a great weekend in terms of winning both games and fighting for top spot in the division. We had some big efforts out of Lefebvre (11pts) and Roth (8pts) in terms of points.
We got a great boost with Tommy Fingler back in the lineup as well as the addition of Jack Gill. Rockets captain Brad Stitt continues to impress the organization with his determination and leadership both on and off the ice. “Stitter” looks like he is playing hockey on a mission and refuses to let anyone stand in this team’s way. From a management side of things we can’t say enough good things about that kid right now, we hope it continues.
Also our back end has been steady, the addition of Cam Brown to our lineup coincides with our undefeated streak; which in my opinion, speaks volumes as to what he is bringing on the back end to this club. Reilly Tondreau has been our leader in the net with an outstanding compete level.
We’ve also got some good efforts out of local product Carter Tait, who continues to improve each game and is proving he belongs in this league, which is just awesome to watch from a development stand point.
Thanks to the North Dundas Community for all the support we’ve been receiving at our games; hopefully we continue to earn that support as the season moves forward.
See you at the rink!
Up next
The North Dundas Rockets welcome the South Grenville Rangers to the Chesterville Arena in a battle for first place on Sat., Nov. 17, at 7:30 p.m.
