THUNDER BAY – In a tremendous final of the All-Ontario U15 AAA championship at the Fort William Gardens Sunday evening, it was the Vaughan Kings who eventually prevailed with a narrow 3-2 victory over a resilient Soo Jr. Greyhounds side in an action-packed affair in the title contest.
While the Kings won gold and the Greyhounds mined silver, it was the York-Simcoe Express who earned the bronze with a tight 3-2 decision over the Elgin-Middlesex Canucks.
Here’s a look at the two semifinal contests as well as the pair of medal games.
Semifinal No. 1: Vaughan Kings 7, Elgin-Middlesex Canucks 2: Staying unbeaten, Vaughan secured their place in the final with a convincing result over Elgin-Middlesex.
Led by a first period hat trick from Nikolas Fegaras, the Kings took early control of the contest.
Bryaden Pique did tie it 9:22 into the contest, but it was all Kings from there.
Extending their lead in the middle stanza, Ethan Goodwin tallied twice for the GTHL title holders, while Drew Stewart added another to put them up by five heading into the intermission.
Finishing it off in the final frame, Samuel Frappier made it 7-1 before the Canucks’ Simon Howard whipped in a feed from Carter Piskorowski to round out the scoring.
Semifinal No. 2: Soo Jr. Greyhounds 1, York-Simcoe Express 0: Backed by the stellar shutout goaltending by Greyhounds netminder, Benjamin Clayton, his club pulled out the slim result in the hard-fought affair.
After a scoreless opening frame, Sault Ste. Marie notched the day’s initial tally 5:18 into the middle session when Lukas Maninos took a play wide on the right side and fired a feed in front that was steered in by Wyatt Jarrett past York-Simcoe netminder Jackson Knight.
Pushing hard for an equalizer in the third period, the Express got Knight out for an extra attacker, but they could not solve Clayton, who shut the door the entire way to send the Soo to the title game.
Bronze medal game: York-Simcoe Express 3, Elgin-Middlesex Canucks 2: It was the Canucks who began the scoring when Cameron Marcy took a pass across from Taeo Maola and slid it in the bottom left corner past Express goalkeeper Ethan Aikoroje, nearly nine minutes into the contest.
Moving to the middle frame, Elgin-Middlesex tacked on another midway through as Brayden Pique was set-up down low by Tyson Orr and put one in along the ice that found its way through the pads of York-Simcoe netminder.
The Express eventually solved Canucks starter Luke Walls when Jaiden Trinidad kept a play onside and fed Antonio Lucente, who steered the puck into the open side at 4:43 of the third.
They then tied it up a few shifts later as Jake Torresan wheeled into the Elgin-Middlesex zone and after moving left-to-right, fired a shot back across that found its way into the net.
Completing the comeback in the late going, Torresan darted out from behind the Canucks net, then spun and roofed a short-side wrist shot with 1:57 to go.
A couple of point blank stops by Aikoroje before time expired secured the bronze medal for the Express.
Gold/Silver medal game: Vaughan Kings 3, Soo Jr. Greyhounds 2: A well played opening frame went without a goal as both clubs battled hard throughout the session.
While Sault Ste. Marie generated the majority of chances into the second stanza, it was Vaughan who broke the deadlock in the latter stages of the frame.
On the tally, the Kings broke up a play at their own blueline and countered quickly in transition as Andrew Kourtis moved the puck ahead which allowed Bennett Hatch to drive into the Greyhounds zone where he moved into the right circle and wired a shot past Soo netminder Benjamin Clayton.
After a huge save by Clayton early in the third, the Hounds came up ice where Wyatt Jarrett cut through a trio of defenders and ripped an attempt upstairs over the glove of Vaughan goalkeeper David Stefaniuk.
Countering less than a minute later, the Kings regained the lead when defenceman Jasper Wang sent one through a crowd from distance moments into a power play.
Pulling even on a man advantage of their own, Matti Lappalainen snapped in the equalizer from close range with four and a half minutes to play.
A controversial waved-off goal saw Wang go coast-to-coast on an incredible rush and buried what was a disallowed go-ahead marker from a sharp angle which was deemed by the officials that the net was dislodged before the puck went in.
Undaunted, Vaughan came right back a few seconds later and got the game-winner from championship MVP, Thomas Luksic, who batted in the difference maker from along the goal line.
The Jr. Greyhounds had one final power play late and with their netminder out for a six-on-four, but the Kings held firm to secure the provincial championship.
U15 AAA CHAMPIONSHIP AWARD WINNERS
(Based on round robin play)
MVP: Thomas Luksic, Vaughan Kings
Top scorer: Thomas Luksic, Vaughan Kings
Top Forward: Tyson Orr, Elgin-Middlesex Canucks
Top Defenceman: Andrew Kourtis, Vaughan Kings
Top Goaltender: Ethan Aikoroje, York-Simcoe Express
Most Sportsmanlike Player: Ryder Milani, Thunder Bay Kings
Photo courtesy Hockey Northwestern Ontario
