The North Dundas Rockets welcomed the St. Isidore Eagles to the Chesterville Arena on Sat., Dec. 16, in the NCJHL. The Rockets’ centerman Landon Veenstra (9) scored two goals and picked up three assists for a five-point game as the Rockets took the game 7-3. Veenstra has 15 goals and 17 assists for 32 points in 18 games this season and has been an affiliate with the Ottawa West Golden Knights of the CCHL2.     Sawyer Helmer photo

Jeff Moore
Record Staff
CLARENCE CREEK—The North Dundas Rockets had two games this past weekend.

Castors 6 Rockets 4: The Rockets travelled to the Clarence Creek Arena on Sun., Dec. 17, to take on the Clarence Castors in the NCJHL. The Rockets went into the game sitting in third place, four points behind the Gatineau Hull-Volant and six points behind the first-place Papineau Vikings. The Castors were coming off a big win over the fourth-place Cumberland Bandits and sat in sixth place with 22 points.

The Rockets opened the scoring just 2:27 into the first period when Matt Cowley scored his first goal as a Rocket from Brad Stitt to take a 1-0 lead. The Rockets’ lead only lasted for 13 seconds as the Castors tied the game.

The Castors made it 2-1 at 12:40 and added a short-handed goal at 17:46 and took a 3-1 lead into the first intermission. The Rockets got to within one when Tom Fingler pounded one home from Stitt just 1:38 into the second period.

The Castors made it 4-2 at the nine-minute mark but the Rockets rebounded with a goal by Shawn Simms at 13:47 from Bryden Van Kessel and Justin Lefebvre. The Castors made it 5-3 at 17:49 and took that lead into the second intermission. The Castors took a three-goal lead at 13:22 of the third period.

The Rockets got back to within two when Simms scored his second of the game from Cowley and Connor Roth with just 1:01 remaining in the game but it was too little too late as the Castors upset the Rockets 6-4 handing them their first loss in seven games. Suffering the loss in the Rockets’ goal was Jason Buma.

Rockets 7 Eagles 3: The Rockets welcomed the St. Isidore Eagles to the Chesterville Arena on Sat., Dec. 16, in the NCJHL. The Rockets added another defenseman to the team who is as solid as they come in Matt Cowley former captain of the Ottawa West Golden Knights in the CCHL2 as they looked to tighten up their defence.

The Rockets sat in third place, eight points behind the Papineau Vikings in first place and six points behind the Gatineau Hull-Volant in second. The Rockets sat just one point ahead of the Cumberland Bandits in fourth and two points ahead of the Eagles in fifth so this was an important four-point game.

The Rockets opened the scoring when Captain Bryden Van Kessel snapped one to the back of the net unassisted at 3:01 of the first period to take a 1-0 lead. The Rockets made it 2-0 when Landon Veenstra fired one home from Brad Stitt and Brodie Barkley at 6:51 The Rockets kept the offence rolling as Justin Lefebvre scored an unassisted goal at 11:39 but the Eagles got that one back at 15:26.

The Rockets took a 3-1 lead into the first intermission. The Rockets made it 4-1 when Tom Fingler blasted one home from Van Kessel and Veenstra at 3:36 of the second period. The Rockets made it 5-1 when Stitt sniped one from Fingler and Veenstra at 15:19 but the Eagles scored their second of the game at 16:21. The Rockets took a commanding 5-2 lead into the second intermission.

The Rockets wasted no time scoring their sixth goal of the game as Stitt scored his second just 21 seconds into the third period from Veenstra and Fingler. The Eagles got to within three at 2:55 but the Rockets put the icing on the cake at 6:40 when Veenstra scored his second of the game from Stitt and Fingler.

The Rockets took the game 7-3 and moved to within four points of the idle Gatineau Hull-Volant with three games in hand. Picking up the win in the Rockets’ goal was Jason Buma making 29 saves on 32 shots.

Up next: Fri., Dec. 29, 7:30 p.m., International exhibition game, Rockets vs. Club des Patineurs de Meyrin of Switzerland, Chesterville Arena; Fri., Jan. 5, Rockets vs. Inferno, Blackburn Hamlet; Sat., Jan. 6, Rockets vs. Bytown Royals, Chesterville Arena.