The Casselman Vikings welcomed the Winchester Hawks to the J. R. Brisson Complexe on Thurs., Sept. 26, in the CCHL2. The Vikings christened in their new jerseys as they beat the Hawks 5-2. The Vikings’ forwards, Nicolas Chartrand (20) and François Drouin battle the Hawks’ defensemen, Ryan Nielson (17) as he tries to help out his goalie, Cole Defazio as the puck arrives. Moore photo

ATHENS—The Casselman Vikings played two games this past weekend as they welcomed the Winchester Hawks on Thursday night and travelled to Athens on Saturday night to take on the Aeros.

Vikings 4 Aeros 2

The Casselman Vikings travelled to Centre 76 in Athens to take on the Aeros on Sat., Sept. 28, in the CCHL2. The Vikings were coming off a big 5-2 win over the Winchester Hawks in their previous game in second place, one point behind the Ottawa West Golden Knights in the Martin Division. 

The Vikings opened the scoring when Samuel Labre scored his first goal of the season from Frederick Gagnier and Mikael Houle at 4:04 of the first period, taking a 1-0 lead. The Vikings took a two-goal lead when Mathieu Talbot snapped home his third of the season while shorthanded at 18:16. The Vikings took a 2-0 lead into the first intermission. 

The Aeros got to within one at 6:03 of the second period and tied the game with just 1:27 remaining in the middle frame. The teams took a two-all draw into the second intermission. 

The Vikings retook the lead when François Drouin snapped home his fifth of the season from Jonathan Paquette and Nicolas Chartrand just 18 seconds into the third period making it 3-2. 

With just under two minutes remaining in regulation, the Aeros pulled their goalie in favour of an extra attacker but that backfired as Paquette slid on into the abandoned cage unassisted with 1:32 remaining. The Vikings hung on to take the game 4-2. With the win, the Vikings moved into sole possession of first place in the Martin Division. 

Picking up the win in the Vikings’ goal was Nicholas Campbell.

Vikings 5 Hawks 2

The Casselman Vikings welcomed the Winchester Hawks to. The J. R. Brisson Complexe on Thurs., Sept. 26, in the CCHL2. The Vikings went into the game with a 1-0-1 record after picking up three of four points the previous weekend and looked to get back in the winning column. 

The Hawks won both of their games in their opening weekend, sitting one point up on the Vikings in the Martin Division and looked to remain undefeated. The Vikings opened the scoring when Jason Cossette scored his third goal of the season unassisted just 1:48 into the first period taking a 1-0 lead. 

The Vikings made it 2-0 when Adam Paquette scored his first of the season from Frederick Gagnier and Francois Drouin at 12:07. The Hawks got back to within one as Kyle Fleming scored his third of the season from Kyle Green while shorthanded at 15:42 and knotted the affair with just 43 seconds remaining in the opening frame as Ryan Nielson fired home his first of the season from Fleming. The teams took a two-all draw into the first intermission. 

The Vikings retook the lead when Zachary Power scored his first of the season from Mathieu Talbot and Isaac Landry at 11:09 of the second period.

The Vikings restored a two-goal lead when Cossette scored his second of the game and fourth of the season at 17:04 from Landry. The Vikings took a three-goal lead just 50 seconds later, as Drouin lit the lamp for his fourth goal of the season from Gagnier and Landry. The Vikings took a 5-2 lead into the second intermission. 

The third period was evenly played with the Vikings outshooting the Hawks 10-9 but neither team was able to score. The Vikings took the game 5-2 jumping into the top spot in the Martin Division. 

The Vikings outshot the Hawks 45-19. Picking up the win in the Vikings’ goal was Zachary Racine, making 17 saves and suffering the loss in the Hawks’ goal was Cole Defazio making 40 saves.

Up next

The Casselman Vikings welcome the Perth Blue Wings to the J. R. Brisson Complexe on Thurs., Oct. 3 at 7:30 p.m. and travel to the Cobden Arena to take on the Whitewater Kings on Sat., Oct. 5 at 7:30 p.m.