THUNDER BAY – The Thunder Bay Kings wrapped their first weekend of Greater Toronto Hockey League competition for the 2022-23 season by going 5-11 overall through a combined 16 games.
Here’s a breakdown on how each of Thunder Bay’s four AAA clubs fared.
U18: It was a 2-2 start for the under-18 program, beginning with a narrow 2-1 defeat versus the Toronto Red Wings.
Aden Kristjanson had the lone marker for the Kings while Same Keene made 22 saves in net.
Answering back Saturday, Thunder Bay skated to a pair of victories by topping the Reps Hockey Club 6-1 before knocking off the Toronto Marlboros 3-1.
In the win over the Reps, Peter Forester picked up a pair of goals with Lucas Bertolin, Matthew Lysak, Ben Exell and Matteo Veneruzzo also connecting. Travis Smith handled 24 of the 25 attempts he faced in a winning cause.
The victory over the Marlboros saw Keene come up big with a 38-save game to earn the W, while Evan Lachemia, Kaden Goodwin and Adam Kukko were the marksmen offensively.
They then finished off play Sunday, falling 3-1 to the Markham Majors with Emerson DiGiacomo scoring the lone goal and Smith facing 29 shots against.
U16: A solid start saw the Kings kick off GTHL play with a 4-2 win over the North York Rangers.
Matthew Bertolin, Carter Poddubny, Nicholas Silvaggio, with the game-winner, and Rashaad Eichenberg tallied in the triumph while Chase Furlong earned the victory in net.
Game 2 saw the U16s get bounced 7-0 by the Toronto Young Nationals, who saw Ajay Singh Rai score three times and dole out two assists in the one-sided result.
Regrouping, Easton Mikus scored both goals and Furlong posted the shutout as Kings blanked the Toronto Titans 2-0 in the club’s third contest.
Rounding out the weekend Sunday afternoon, the Toronto Red Wings scored with five and a half minutes remaining to pull out a 4-3 win.
Mikus had two more goals for his team in the setback with Cooper Labelle adding a single. Travis VanderZwaag suffered the narrow loss in net.
U15: Beginning with a 5-1 loss to the Marlboros Friday night, the Kings came back to edge Markham 4-3 Saturday.
However, two more defeats saw the squad go 1-3 on the weekend as they dropped decisions to the Vaughan Kings and the Titans by scores of 5-1 and 3-2 respectively.
U13: Battling illness and injury the under-13 Kings played hard in their GTHL regular season debut, but came away winless.
A solid effort in their opener saw them outshoot the Mississauga Rebels 40-25 Friday, but they went on to fall by a 4-3 count.
Emmett Adduono, Felix Sapay and Ethan Williamson scored the goals.
Saturday saw the squad let a multi-goal get away in falling 6-5 to the Young Nationals.
Pacing the club offensively was Owen Trevisanutto, who scored twice, while Cooper Disher, Mason Gousher and Brady Nash also found the back of the net.
With a short bench, they suffered a 9-2 loss to North York in Game 3 with Sapay and Benton Ashworth providing the offense.
Then, despite a solid 47-save performance from goalkeeper Carter Johnson, the undermanned Kings fell 7-0 to the U13 Titans.
The Kings head back to Toronto for their next round of GTHL play, Nov. 4-6, with four more games for each club on the slate.
Photo credit: James Mirabelli
