The North Dundas Rockets travelled to the CIH Arena in Rockland on Thurs., March 5, to take on the Clarence Castors for game seven of the best-of-seven NCJHL quarterfinal. The Rockets’ defenseman, Cameron Brown takes a tumble over the Castors’ goalie, Corey Camirand as teammates, Cole Hodges and Jarrett Williams look for a rebound. The Castors defenseman, Gabriel Rouselle was able to clear the puck out of harm’s way. The Rockets went on to double the Castors 6-3 taking the series four games to three. Moore photo

CHESTERVILLE—The North Dundas Rockets had a busy week of hockey as they welcomed the Clarence Castors on Wednesday for game six of the NCJHL quarter final, travelled to Rockland on Thursday night for game seven and welcomed the Bytown Royals on Saturday night for game one of the semifinal.

Rockets 4 Royals 1

The North Dundas Rockets welcomed the Bytown Royals to the Chesterville Arena on Sat., March 7, for game one of the best-of-seven NCJHL semifinal. The Rockets knocked off the Clarence Castors in a thrilling 6-3 game seven victory taking the series in seven games while the Royals dropped their first three games against the St. Isidore Eagles only to win four consecutive games taking the series in seven. 

The Rockets claimed home ice advantage for the first time in the playoffs finishing ahead of the Royals in the regular season. The Rockets opened the scoring when Evan Barosso blasted one home from the point from Brad Nash and Jarrett Williams at 3:44 of the first period taking a 1-0 lead. 

The Rockets made it 2-0 as Williams roofed one from Drew Holmes at 4:55. The Rockets took a three-goal lead when Brett Lannin  slapped a long-distance one home from Justin Lefebvre and Matt Pietrkiewicz at 13:06. The Rockets took a 3-0 lead into the first intermission. 

The Royals cut the deficit to two at 11:16 but the Rockets bounced back with a goal at 17:50 as Lefebvre snapped one home from Cameron Brown and Barosso. The Rockets took a 4-1 lead into the second intermission. 

The teams battled to a scoreless third period as the Rockets picked up a 4-1 victory taking a 1-0 series lead. The Rockets outshot the Royals 50-21. Picking up the win in the Rockets’ goal was Anthony Kerwin making 20 saves.

Rockets 6 Castors 3

The North Dundas Rockets travelled to the CIH Arena in Rockland on Thurs., March 5, to take on the Clarence Castors for game seven of the best-of-seven NCJHL quarterfinal. The Castors won game six the previous night 4-1 to force a game seven with the series tied at three. The winner would move on to face the winner of the St. Isidore Eagles vs the Bytown Royals who were playing at the same time in their game seven. 

The Castors opened the scoring at 7:31 of the first period taking a 1-0 lead. The Rockets tied the game at 10:12 as Joel Hunt ripped one home from Cameron Brown and took their first lead of the game when Nicholas Carroll snapped one home from Evan Barosso and Hunt at 12:52. 

The Rockets made it a two-goal lead when Carroll scored his second of the game from Hunt at 13:46. The Rockets took a 3-1 lead into the first intermission. 

The Rockets took a 4-1 lead when Justin Lefebvre blasted one home from Hunt just 35 seconds into the second period. The Rockets took a four-goal lead when Brown scored on a breakaway at 9:38 unassisted and took a 5-1 lead into the second intermission. 

The Castors got to within three at 9:29 of the third period but the Rockets got that goal back just 46 seconds later as Lefebvre scored a breakaway goal unassisted. The Castors cut the deficit in half at 12:09 but that was as close as they could get as the Rockets hung on for a 6-3 victory, eliminating the Castors from the post-season. 

The Rockets also found out their second round opponents after the Royals beat out the Eagles earlier in the evening. Picking up the win in the Rockets’ goal was Anthony Kerwin. 

Castors 4 Rockets 1

The North Dundas Rockets welcomed the Clarence Castors to the Chesterville Arena on Wed., March 4, for game six of the best-of-seven NCJHL quarterfinal. The Rockets led the series three games to two and had a chance to close out the series with a victory but with a loss, the series would move back to Clarence the next night. 

The Rockets opened the scoring when Nicholas Carroll snapped one home from Joel Hunt and Brett Lannin at 9:44 of the first period taking a 1-0 lead. The Castors tied the game at 7:24 on the power play. The teams took a one-all draw into the first intermission. 

The Castors took their first lead of the game at 17:24 of the second period and took a 2-1 lead into the second intermission. The Castors increased their lead to two at 6:35 of the third period and took a three-goal lead at 9:34. 

The Rockets had no answer as the Castors took the game 4-1 forcing a game seven in Rockland the following night. The Castors outshot the Rockets 30-29. The Rockets had one of the best crowds of the season with over 300 fans in the stands. 

Suffering the loss in the Rockets’ goal was Anthony Kerwin making 25 saves.

Up next

The North Dundas Rockets travel to the Bernard Grandmaître Arena in Ottawa on Wed., March 11 to take on the Bytown Royals for game two of the best-of-seven NCJHL semifinal at 9:15 p.m., welcome the Royals to the Chesterville Arena for game three on Fri., March 13 at 7:30 p.m., head back to Ottawa on Sat., March 14 for game four at 5:15 p.m. and play in Chesterville on Sun., March 15 at 3:15 p.m.