THUNDER BAY – Day 3 of the All-Ontario U15 AAA championship at the Fort William Gardens has been completed and the four teams who earned semifinal berths Sunday have been confirmed.
The No. 1 Vaughan Kings will meet the No. 4 Elgin-Middlesex Canucks in one semifinal while the No. 2 York-Simcoe Express will take on the No. 3 Soo Jr. Greyhounds in the other.
Here’s a recap of Saturday’s slate:
York-Simcoe Express 5, Soo Jr. Greyhounds 5: A goal-filled affair saw the two teams score five times apiece in the back and forth draw.
A free-wheeling first period saw each side tally twice, with Lucas Sprogis and Reed Budgell giving York-Simcoe and early 2-0 lead, before Lukas Maninos and Matti Lappalainen drew Sault Ste. Marie level.
Still tied until the latter stages of the middle stanza, the Express notched two more markers to take a 4-2 cushion into the intermission, compliments of Brayden Featherstone and Pearson Carbonell.
In the third, the Soo stormed back by striking three times in just over a two and a half minute span to take a 5-4 lead on goals from Hayden Brason-Doan, Jasper Jarratt and Maninos.
Regrouping, Nicholas Spagnol salvaged the tie for York-Simcoe to round out the scoring.
Ottawa Jr. 67’s 3, Thunder Bay Kings 2: Coming through late, the Jr. 67’s prevailed with a narrow victory over the Kings.
The lone goal of the first period came deep in the session when Ottawa’s Adrien Pilon-Faubert pumped in a rebound off a Tristan Lafoley point shot on Thunder Bay netminder Declan Scott.
Converting on a man advantage in the middle stanza, Caleb Lang clicked for the 67’s to put them up by a pair before the Kings’ Cole Witiluk lifted one in from distance off a draw won back to him by Lucas Degroot.
The home side then drew level with three minutes remaining in the second as Cullen McCormack scooped up the leftovers off a Bentlee Wiwcharyk attempt from up top and tucked in a backhand on Ottawa goaltender Declan Olivera-Odell.
Some late-game heroics saw Ottawa pull out the victory in the final minute as Lafoley whipped in the game-winner from the slot with 45 seconds to go.
Vaughan Kings 7, Elgin-Middlesex Canucks 2: Vaughan wrapped up the top seed in the round robin with a perfect 5-0 record in the win against Elgin-Middlesex.
Drew Stewart scored 11 seconds into the contest to send them on their way.
Markers from Nikolaos Fegaras and Bennett Hatch put the Kings up 3-0 after one period, while Philip Madonna increased their cushion into the second intermission.
In the third period, the GTHL champions banged in two early on thanks to Madonna and Thomas Luksic.
Tyson Orr snapped the shutout bid of Vaughan netminder David Stefaniuk on a five-on-three as he cranked in a one-timer from the left circle.
The Kings’ Liam Krzewski and the Canucks’ Cameron Marcy traded tallies after that to round out the scoring.
Andrew Courtis chipped in with a pair of assists for Vaughan in the triumph.
Soo Jr. Greyhounds 5, Ottawa Jr. 67’s 2: Ottawa jumped out to a quick two-goal lead on Sault Ste. Marie in this one.
Fresh off the late game-winner against the host Kings, Lafoley gave the Jr. 67’s an edge 2:48 into the match-up before teammate William Holbrook made it 2-0 just over five minutes in.
However, it was all Soo the rest of the way as they collected five unanswered markers to pick up the win and secure a slot in Sunday’s semifinals.
The Jr. Greyhounds got back in it in the late in the first when Benjamin Campbell converted from close range.
In the middle stanza, an offensive barrage by the Soo in the back-end of the session saw then take control.
After Gavyn Nevers clicked on the power play at 11:41, Haydon Evy, less than a minute later, and Brason-Doan late made 4-2 Hounds after two.
In the third, Soo netminder Benjamin Clayton stopped a penalty shot midway through the period to keep the 67’s at bay.
Ottawa pulled their goalkeeper with four minutes left and with a man advantage that gave them a six-on-four as they tried to get back in it, but Lappalainen iced it with a spinning long-range backhand from his own zone into an empty net for a shorthanded effort to wrap-up the result.
York-Simcoe Express 2, Thunder Bay Kings 0: A shutout from Ethan Aikoroje helped York-Simcoe secure second spot in the standings.
After a scoreless first period, the Express opened the scoring early in the second when Mason Podstatzky hammered a blast from the slot after being teed up down low by Jake Torresan that flew by Kings’ netminder Maddox Boutette.
Still 1-0 York-Simcoe in the third, they added to their lead when Ryo Han corralled a loose puck at the top of the crease and while falling tucked it into the open corner at 1:26 to complete the scoring.
Elgin-Middlesex claimed the final playoff berth, with the Canucks earning the tie breaker over Thunder Bay to finish fourth.
UPCOMING GAMES
Sunday, April 12
Semifinal No. 1: Elgin-Middlesex Canucks vs. Vaughan Kings 10:00 a.m.
Semifinal No. 2: Soo Jr. Greyhounds vs. York-Simcoe Express 12:30 p.m.
Bronze medal game: 5 p.m.
Gold/Silver medal game: 7:30 p.m.
Photo credit: James Mirabelli
