The Vankleek Hill Cougars’s string of victories came to an end Sunday night in St-Isidore as les Aigles edged them out 5-4.
The Cougars have proven the winning team in the National Capital Junior Hockey League (NCJHL) since the start of the 2025-2026 season last September. Mid-January saw Vankleek Hill’s unbeaten streak end with Sunday night’s road game in St-Isidore.
Les Aigles de St-Isidore clipped the Cougars 5-4 in a match that was pushed into overtime after the home team tied up the score during third period.
Both teams scored a goal in the first period of the match, with Alexandre Chenier putting the Cougars on the scoreboard first near the period midmark, with help from Zack Langlois and Callum Nystrom.
Nicolas Elie answered back for les Aigles during the final four minutes of the period, getting an assist from Maxime Patenaude.
The Cougars slipped into the lead during second period, scoring three more goals to two more points for les Aigles.
Vankleek Hill dominated the scoring from the start of the period with Langlois, Nolan Macmillan, and Cody Horner firing the puck in one after the other within a ten-minute span. Assising on the goals were Horner and Connor Cook for Macmillan, Macmilland Xavier Plante for Langlois, and Macmillan and Maxime Carrière for Horner.
Les Aigles scored two goals on power plays to trail the Cougars at 4-3 going into third period. Scoring for St-Isidore were Nicolas Quesnel, from Sydney Benoît and Nathan Sabourin, and Justin Duchesne, from Elie and Samuel Marleau.
Third period saw les Aigles tie up the score in the last six minutes with a point from Tyler Proulx, assisted by Quesnel and Benoît. During the overtime period, a power-play goal from Sabourin, assisted by Marleau and Justin Cloutier won the game for les Aigles at 5-4.
Cougars against Castors
Saturday night’s road match for the Cougars against the Cumberland Castors finished 6-3 for Vankleek Hill.
Alex Fauchon opened the scoreboard for Cumberland two minutes before the end of first period, with a power-play goal, assisted by Mathis Gadoua. Another last-minute goal for the Castors went into the net courtesy of Tyler Lahaie-Desabrais, assisted by A.J. Frost.
The Cougars recovered in the second period, starting with a goal five minutes into the play from Alexandre Chenier, assisted by Ryder Hill and Xavier Plante.
The Castors took back their two-point lead with a power-play goal at the midmark from Shane Moodie, assisted by Ryan Pomerleau.
Cody Horner answered back for the Cougars with his own power-play goal in the last half of the period. Assisting him were Jacob Crete and Nolan Macmillan. Macmillan then tied up the score in the last two minutes of the period with help from Connor Cook.
Third period saw the Cougars break the tie with a goal in the first five minutes of the period from Callum Nystrom, assisted by Macmillan and Cook. Macmillan extended the lead, with help from Tristan Paquette in the latter half of the period.
Garrett Cunning confirmed the 6-3 win for Vankleek Hill, scoring the final goal for the Cougars in the last 30 seconds of the game, with help from Bradley Horner.
The Cougars host the Morrisburg Lions Saturday night at the Vankleek Hill Arena. Sunday evening the Cougars and les Aigles have a rematch in St-Isidore.
