The series is shaping up to be a real nail-biter so far, with both games being won by single-goal margins. The Volant took the first game 6-5 at home in overtime on Friday, but the Cougars bounced back to win 2-1 in front of their fans on Saturday. <\/p>\n
Alexandre Saul scored two goals in a losing cause at Gatineau on Friday, Justin Chaumont scored a goal and a helper, J\u00e9r\u00e9my Marcotte had two assists, Brenden Easterbrook and Simon Levac scored a goal apiece and Zachary Bigras, Thomas Kelly, Zack Labb\u00e9 and Jake Lalonde each scored assists for the Cougars. <\/p>\n
The following day, Saul had another big game with a goal and a helper for the home team. Marcotte notched the other goal for the Cougars and Bigras, Easterbrook and Andy Lightle-Blais scored assists to help Vankleek Hill tie the series 1-1. <\/p>\n
Cougars\u2019 Head Coach Franky Dopelhamer is very proud of what his team accomplished over the weekend: <\/p>\n
\u201cWe were trailing 3-0 after 10 minutes on Friday, so things weren\u2019t looking great for us. But we kept our composure and we came back from behind three times in that game. We even pulled our goalie at the end to force overtime.\u201d <\/p>\n
The Cougars were disappointed after the loss, but were able to build on what they accomplished during their comeback to take the next game and tie the series 1-1: <\/p>\n
\u201cWe should have won that game,\u201d said Coach Dopelhamer. \u201cThe only reason we lost is that we made three or four costly mistakes, and the other team able to capitalize every single time. But coming back from behind the way we did on Friday shows a lot of character, and we were able to use that momentum on Saturday. We\u2019re taking things one period at a time.\u201d <\/p>\n
A lot of players stepped their game up in the playoffs, according to Dopelhamer: \u201cAlexandre Saul is playing great hockey right now, it feels like he\u2019s on a mission. But he\u2019s not the only one. Guys like Zach Bigras and Simon Levac are really playing well defensively for us. Chaumont is also playing very well, even though he\u2019s not putting up his usual numbers. It\u2019s only a matter of time before the points start piling up because he\u2019s playing the right way.\u201d <\/p>\n
The way Dopelhamer sees it, the Cougars have recaptured the momentum in the series and the pressure is now on the Volant to win in front of their fans next Friday: \u201cThe momentum is back on our side. There is a lot of confidence in the locker room after our big win on Saturday, and we know we can beat them. Hockey is a game of mistakes, so if we can limit our mistakes and take advantage when they make mistakes, we\u2019ll be in good shape.\u201d <\/p>\n
The Cougars and Volant will play in Gatineau on Friday before returning to Vankleek Hill on Saturday. If a fifth game is required to determine the outcome of the series, it will be played on Sunday in Gatineau. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
With both teams winning in front of their fans over the weekend, the series between the Vankleek Hill Cougars and the Gatineau-Hull Volant is now tied 1-1. \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":7435,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports-loisirs"],"acf":[],"featured_media_global":[],"yoast_head":"\n