by Murray Link
The North Dundas Senior Rockets were on the road the past to weekends and experienced their first loss of the season. On January 13, the Rockets travelled to Long Sault to take on their division rivals the South Stormont Mustangs. This would mark the last meeting for the two teams before playoff time. In one of the best rivalry’s in the EOSHL, the Rockets seemed to have had the Mustangs number by narrowly winning all three games played between the two clubs this season. “You have to be on your game” remarked Rob Sadler, the Rockets head Coach when asked about how his team stacks up against the competition….” They are a great team with a ton of depth and speed”.
With both teams poised with scoring ability, the Rockets outshot their opponents 39-30 in front of a packed crowd in the Long Sault arena. The much anticipated game ended up in a goaltender duel with the Mustangs leading 2-1 for most of the game and ending the perfect season of the Rockets with an empty netter in the last minute for a final score of 3-1. Ryan Lough scored the lone goal for the visiting team with assists by Tanner Williams and Shawn Moors). “We couldn’t buy a goal, a couple of posts and a crossbar….it wasn’t our night” Lamented Sadler.
The Rockets bounced back in high flying fashion eight days later on January 21, vs the Bytown Royals with a decisive 8-5 win. In their final road game of the year, the Senior squad came out firing taking a 6-1 lead, just four minutes into the second period. When asked about the game #91 Andrew Radjenovic commented “We came out hard and didn’t want to leave anything to chance”. Radjenovic took home first star of the game with an impressive 4 pts (3G, 1A) with his first hat trick as a Rocket.
In the 17th game of the season, the win vs Bytown extended the Rockets season point total to 32 points….one more win will solidify first place in the East division ahead of the South Stormont Mustangs. Other notable performances were #66 Brett Gustavsen who had 3 pts (0G, 3A) on the night. Gustavsen, last years EOSHL offensive player of the year currently has 44 pts (15G, 29A) and is leading the league once again ahead of South Stormont’s Isaac Barr, who has 37 points. Rockets goaltender #25 Matt Jenkins also recorded his 14th win of the season, which currently puts him ahead of Bailey Miracle, of the Deseronto Bulldogs who has recorded 10 wins on the season.
The Rockets are at home the final 3 games of the regular season. On Saturday January 27, they will take on the Paugan Falls Rapids, puck drop at 2:15. To keep up with the Rockets and other teams in the Eastern Ontario Super Hockey League, make sure to visit their Facebook page or visit eosh.hockeyshift.com for a very user friendly website. The question is: ARE YOU GOING TO THE GAME!
