S P O R T S
VANKLEEK HILL CURLING DUO ROCKS ON IN HIGH SPIRITS
GREGG CHAMBERLAIN gregg.chamberlain@eap.on.ca
on what rival rinks Team Vivier might face in Brockville, but Allen and Lovitt can hazard a guess. “Probably the teams that we know from the Ottawa Valley,” added Lovitt. “And we’ve beaten all of them before,” affirmed Allen. “So as long as we play our best.”
alternate rink in case Team Crosier is not able to attend the Canada Winter Games later in the year. “It was definitely the hardest loss we’ve ever had,” said Lovitt. “But, putting things in perspective, we’ve learned a lot.” “It’s definitely a very big accomplish- ment,” Allen said about their silver medal achievement. “Especially as it was our first provincial-level event as a team.” Rally time While in Sault Ste. Marie, Team Vivier played nine matches over a four-day period, including the final round. Neither Allen nor Lovitt allow themselves to claim fatigue as a reason for Vivier rink’s loss to Croisier. “I think through the whole week we played strong,” Allen said. “But we struggled in the last game and couldn’t get the shots we needed.” “I think we managed any exhaustion well,” said Lovitt. “We were all pretty upbeat. We were focused and we were energetic.” Both agree the critical point in the final match was the second end, when a series of missed shots meant the Vivier rink giving up four points and the lead to Croisier. Vivier rallied during the following rounds to tie up the score six-all going into the eighth and final round, which Croisier took with the last rock. New games new goals A week later, Allen and Lovitt are focused on their new goal. The provincial qualifier
is in Brockville in three weeks and the duo and their rink mates are honing their skills with that in mind. “This gives us another chance to go to the provincials again,” said Allen, smiling, “and another chance to represent Ontario again.” At present, there is no definite information
The Vankleek Hill Cougars enjoyed a winning weekend for their mid-January games in the National Capital Junior Hockey League. The Cougars kept the North Dundas Rockets grounded 3-2 during Saturday night’s home game at the Vankleek Hill Arena. They went on the road Sunday to West Carleton where they put the fire out on the Inferno 10-3. First period during Saturday night’s game saw neither the Cougars nor the Rockets getting in a point. The Cougars took the lead 2-1 in the second period and kept the one-point edge up to the final buzzer. Scoring for Vankleek Hill were Ryan Allen, Jonathan Lacroix, and Trystan Lavoie, with goal assists from Lavoie, Vincent Huneault, and Danny Plourde-Grenon. Alexander Labrèche guarded the Cougars net. Rockets’ goals came from Justin Lefebvre and Hugo Lusignan, with assists from Brodie Barkley, Matthew Cowley, Jack Van Kessel, and Zachary Parent. Reilly Tondreau was in the net. Sunday evening saw Ryan Allen, Justin Labrosse, Jonathan Lacroix, and Zacharie Leblanc each punch in a pair of goals for Vankleek Hill, with Jacob Victor and Nikolas Ayotte marking singles. Assisting on the goal-scoring were Allen, Ayotte, They felt a bit of a letdown at getting edged out of the running for a Canada Winter Games berth but Vankleek Hill’s curling duo, Caitlin Allen and Émile Lovitt are in high spirits as they roll rocks and sweep brooms during a Sunday afternoon practice session at the Vankleek Hill Curling Club. “It was a bit of a hit to lose the final,” said Allen, during an interview break. “But we’ve bounced back. Now we’re working hard for the next event.” Allen and Lovitt are the Vankleek Hill half of Team Vivier, a combined Navan/Vankleek Hill U18 women’s curling quartet, which competed in the Canada Winter Games provincial trials in Sault Ste. Marie during the first week of January. Allen and Lovitt, with their rink mates Dominique Vivier and rink skip Paige Brown, swept the opposition off the ice during the round-robin matches and rocked their way into the finals against Sudbury’s Team Croisier. The deciding moment of the match came down to the final rock thrown for the Croisier rink that knocked out Team Vivier for a 7-6 final score, the gold medal and honour of representing Ontario at the Winter Games going to the Sudbury rink. Team Vivier finished with the silver and is the designated
Émilie Lovitt se prépare à commencer son balayage alors que Caitlin Allen lâche la pierre, lors d’une séance d’entraînement dimanche après-midi au Vankleek Hill Curling Club. Les deux joueuses se réjouissent de la médaille d’argent remportée par leur équipe, l’équipe Vivier, lors des qualifications provinciales pour les Jeux d’hiver du Canada. Maintenant, elles se concentrent sur les prochaines qualifications provinciales à Brockville pour sélectionner l’équipe de l’Ontario qui participera aux championnats nationaux de curling, plus tard dans l’année. —Gregg Chamberlain
WINNING WEEKEND FOR VKH COUGARS GREGG CHAMBERLAIN gregg.chamberlain@eap.on.ca
Labrosse, Samuel Lacroix, Nicolas Cas- tonguay, Tyler Dopelhamer, Caleb Elliott, Vincent Huneault, Trystan Lavoie, Keean McEachern, and Charles-Olivier Portelane. Frederick Durocher guarded the net. Colin Gourgon scored two points for the Inferno with Benjamin Medynski finishing the score. Assists came from Gourgon, Charlie Armstrong, and Cameron Duhn, with Alexander Miotla and Jacob Reynaud sharing goal-keeping duty. Les Cougars de Vankleek Hill ont connu un très bon weekend dans la Ligue de hockey junior de la capitale nationale. D’abord, les Rockets de North Dundas ont subi une défaite de 3 à 2 lors du match à domicile de samedi soir, au cours du weekend du 12 janvier, puis les Cougars ont éteint le feu de l’inferno de West Carleton 10 à 3 dimanche soir. —archives
Team Vivier pose for a team photo at the Canada Winter Games qualifier tournament for Team Ontario. At the left is Caitlin Allen and Émilie Lovitt of Vankleek Hill with their Navan rinkmates Dominique Vivier and Paige Brown. —Chris Brown
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