Ottawa, ON – Friday night across the EOJHL featured a mix of division-heavy matchups and momentum-shifting results, as Arnprior continued its strong run atop the Richardson Division, Perth prevailed in a wide-open offensive contest, Ottawa earned a hard-fought shootout victory on the road, and Winchester delivered a shutout performance in Glengarry.
Arnprior 6, Renfrew 3
Arnprior came out sharp on home ice and built an early lead it would not relinquish. The Packers opened the scoring at 5:26 of the first period on the power play when Ian Kennedy buried his sixth of the season off feeds from Ethan Smith and Jackson Taylor. Arnprior doubled the lead midway through the period as Rowan Casey finished a play created by Reid Bishop and Tyler McEnery.
Renfrew got on the board late in the first when Ricky Wilson snapped home a shot at 19:52 off a feed from Ian Burnett, cutting the deficit to one heading into intermission.
The Packers regained momentum early in the second as Ethan Smith scored at 4:21, finishing a setup from Cameron Sheppard and Carter Downs. Renfrew responded quickly when Daxton Markwick answered at 6:11, converting passes from Blake Egan and Preston Charron. Arnprior restored its two-goal cushion on the power play at 11:28 as Cameron Sheppard capitalized on feeds from Jackson Taylor and Ethan Smith. Renfrew kept pushing, with Connor Hanniman scoring at 16:04 to make it a one-goal game once again.
In the third period, Arnprior put the game away. Brendan Lynch scored just under three minutes in, finishing a play from Rowan Casey and Reid Bishop, then added his second of the night at 16:55 off a feed from Alex Oster to seal the win.
Cole King earned the victory with 34 saves, while Dawson Zadorozny stopped 39 shots in the loss. Arnprior improves to 21-6-0-0, while Renfrew falls to 12-14-1-1.
Perth 7, Smiths Falls 5
Perth and Smiths Falls traded momentum throughout an entertaining, high-scoring contest that wasn’t decided until the final minutes.
The Blue Wings struck first at 4:12 of the opening period as Colby Hunter finished a play set up by Garret Hutchings and Antoine Ziade. Smiths Falls answered at 10:42 when Andrew Hopley tied the game with help from Nathan Hovila and Gabriel Waito.
Smiths Falls took control early in the second period with back-to-back goals from Caleb Bourne at 1:15 and Gabriel Waito at 2:28, before Perth responded at 4:51 when Arjun Uppal finished a passing play from Phoenix Anderson and Ayden Childerhose. The Bears briefly regained the lead late in the period as Jordan Parsons scored at 17:49.
The third period belonged to Perth. Kaius Newberry tied the game at 4:22, followed by Jack Weir giving Perth its first lead of the night at 6:38. Smiths Falls answered again at 7:58 as Waito scored his second of the game, but the Blue Wings responded immediately with Antoine Ziade at 8:40.
Late in the game, Perth pulled away. Colby Hunter scored on the power play at 18:47 before James Lake sealed the win with an empty-net goal just 12 seconds later.
Rowan Williamson earned the win in relief, while Jamie Bales made 38 saves in the loss. Perth improves to 9-15-1-1, while Smiths Falls drops to 11-17-1-1.
Ottawa 3, Embrun 2 (SO)
Ottawa opened the scoring late in the first period on the power play when Riley Bloom scored at 16:36 off passes from Danik Marion and Daniel Kyte.
Embrun responded in the second as Yanick Blanchard tied the game at 11:21, finishing a setup from Tomy Lariviere and Ethan Lamey. The Panthers took the lead in the third on the power play when Wyatt Leblanc converted at 8:37, assisted by Blanchard and Owen Raine.
Ottawa answered back at 12:04 as Cayden Shields evened the score, finishing a play from Jason Cyr and Maxime Carriere. Overtime solved nothing, sending the game to a shootout.
In the shootout, Danik Marion scored the lone goal to give Ottawa the victory.
Jackson Curran earned the win, while Embrun was unable to convert on any shootout attempts. Ottawa improves to 22-7-0-0, while Embrun falls to 6-13-4-5.
Winchester 3, Glengarry 0
Winchester delivered a disciplined road performance, opening the scoring late in the first period when Isaac Bradley finished a play from Spencer Fennell and Jackson Hill at 13:45.
The Hawks extended the lead late in the second as Spencer Fennell scored his first of the night at 18:46, set up by Bradley. Fennell added his second of the game into the empty net at 19:24 of the third, finishing a feed from Bradley and Leonardo Matteucci.
Jacob Turpin was perfect in goal, stopping all 43 shots he faced to earn the shutout. Winchester improves to 13-14-0-0, while Glengarry drops to 14-11-2-1.
