Casselman, ON – The EOJHL Championship Final shifted back in Casselman’s favour Tuesday night, as the Vikings delivered a statement performance on home ice. Behind a fast start and a multi-point effort from Tristan Witmer, Casselman skated to a convincing win over Smiths Falls to grab a 2–1 series lead.
Casselman 5, Smiths Falls 2
Casselman wasted no time setting the tone.
Just over two minutes in, Tristan Webb opened the scoring, finishing a setup from Tristan Witmer to ignite the home crowd. Less than eight minutes later, Witmer doubled the lead himself, burying his eighth of the playoffs off a feed from Mathieu Cloutier.
The Vikings kept rolling.
Marc-Olivier McCarthy made it 3–0 before the midway mark of the first period, forcing an early goaltending change for Smiths Falls after Matthew Saari allowed three goals on ten shots.
From there, Beckett Campbell settled things down and gave the Jr. Bears a chance. Campbell was sharp in relief, turning aside 33 of 35 shots over the final 49 minutes and helping stabilize the game after the early surge.
After a quieter second period start, Smiths Falls showed life when Lincoln Chalmers got the Jr. Bears on the board at 12:02. But any momentum was quickly halted as Witmer struck again late in the frame—his second of the night—to restore a three-goal cushion.
Simon Toupin extended the lead early in the third, capitalizing off a setup from Kaleb Fogarty to make it 5–1.
Jorden Davis added a late goal for Smiths Falls, but the outcome was never in doubt.
Myles Boudreau was steady between the pipes for Casselman, turning aside 32 of 34 shots in the victory.
Game 4 is set for Thursday, April 9 at 7:30 PM in Smiths Falls, where the Jr. Bears will look to respond and even the series on home ice.
