by Kristina Misener
Special to WhitewaterNews.ca
NORTH BAY — The Muskrat Novice Voyageurs headed to the Astroville-North Bay tournament this past weekend and returned home after capturing their first finalist title with a silver finish.
The Novice Team consists of Aaron Enright, Xavier Gagnon, Ben Johnson, Owen Lynch, Danick Bourque, Hunter Beauregard, Wade Matheson, Avery England, Hugo Boisvert, Jason McIntyre, Tyson Verch, Kyle St.Amour, Gabe Groves, goalie Riley Lariviere and bench staff Coach Dean Matheson, assistant coaches Justin Lariviere and Derrick England, trainer Martin Gagnon and manager Megan Lariviere
Settling into the tournament on Friday, Muskrat suited up to take on West Ferris. The first game proved to be an exciting time for the Voyageurs as they started the scoring early in the game with Wade Matheson taking a shot and scoring with Hunter Beauregard getting the assist.
Tyson Verch challenged the West Ferris netminder with a pass from Jason McIntyre to light up the scoreboard again. Voyageurs sitting at a 2-0 lead, Verch sails down the ice with Avery England and puts another in the net. Capturing a hat trick, Verch scores with the assist going to McIntryre for a 4-0 lead. Hugo Boisvert places the final goal of the game, with Matheson taking the point for the assist, for a 5-0 win.
Voyageurs net minder Riley Lariviere was named the Most Valuable Player of the game for his shutout.
Game 2, vs Kirkland Lake Canadian Tire Blue Devils, saw the Voyageurs come out with force to win the game 8-0. Verch started the scoring with an unassisted goal, second goal Matheson, with Beauregard getting the helper. Boisvert sniped another goal between the posts with Danick Bourque assisting. Enright and Matheson score again, taking the team to a 4-0 lead. The Blue Devils are surrounded with goals. Verch, Kyle St. Amour.and Enright with two unassisted goals topple the Devils. MVP for the game was Hugo Boisvert.
Game 3, with Voyageurs sitting in first place with 2-0-0, take on the Timmins Technosub North Stars. Voyageurs start the scoring early, with a goal from Verch, then another from McIntyre and yet again another goal from Verch. North Stars had two goals, but not enough to win over the Voyageurs, who won 3-2.
MVP for the game was Tyson Verch.
With an impressive 16 goals for and two against, the Voyageurs moved on to the Semi-Finals, taking on the Timmins North Stars Team 2. It was a great 7-1 win and the Voyageurs heading into the final.
Voyageurs set up to play the finals and it was against local rivals, the Deep River Knights.
The action was end-to-end, both teams knowing what the end result will be. Knights open the scoring but Voyageurs are able to sink one by Kyle St. Amour with Gabe Groves helping. Voyageurs lost 3-2 but have the silver hardware, after very impressive play at the tournament.
