Ottawa, ON – Wednesday night in the EOJHL Wild Card Round delivered high drama and season-ending emotion, as Renfrew completed a sweep over Athens in overtime, while Winchester outlasted Embrun in a double-overtime marathon to seize control of its series. With one matchup now set for the Richardson Division Semi-Finals and another hanging in the balance, the postseason intensity continues to rise.
Renfrew 5, Athens 4 (OT) |
Renfrew punched its ticket to the Richardson Division Semi-Finals in dramatic fashion, edging Athens 5–4 just 22 seconds into overtime to complete a 3–0 sweep of the best-of-five Wild Card series.
The Timberwolves dominated early, erupting for three first-period goals in just over four minutes. Parker Evans opened the scoring on the power play off a feed from Blake Egan and Liam Haggerty. Seconds later, Nathan Pederson doubled the lead before Haggerty added another to put Renfrew firmly in control.
Renfrew extended the lead in the second when Ricky Wilson scored to make it 4–0, but Athens refused to go quietly. Cameron Kelly sparked the comeback with back-to-back goals — the second coming on the power play — before Jack Jansen narrowed the deficit to one late in the period.
The Aeros completed the rally in the dying minutes of regulation when Ryan Obre found the equalizer at 17:43 of the third, forcing overtime and briefly silencing the Renfrew crowd.
That silence did not last long however.
Ian Burnett ended the series almost immediately in the extra frame, finishing a pass from Evans to seal the win and send Renfrew through to the next round.
Dylan Elliott earned the victory in goal with 31 saves, while Nicholas Periard made 33 stops in the overtime loss.
Renfrew sweeps the series 3–0 and advances to face #1 seed Arnprior in the Richardson Division Semi-Finals.
Winchester 4, Embrun 3 (2OT) | at Winchester
If Game 1 had intensity, Game 3 delivered pure playoff chaos.
Winchester outlasted Embrun in a double-overtime battle, earning a 4–3 victory and grabbing a 2–1 lead in the best-of-five Wild Card series.
Embrun struck first in the opening period when Owen Raine converted a feed from Remi Gendron and Camden Cunningham-Fetch. Winchester responded midway through the frame, as Caleb Grady tied the game off assists from Zach Pereira and Kayden Lopez.
The Panthers regained the lead late in the second on a power-play goal from Justin Raymond, but Ryan Ross answered just 15 seconds later to keep the teams deadlocked entering the third.
Embrun struck again early in the final period, as Raymond scored shorthanded to put the Panthers ahead 3–2. With elimination pressure mounting, Winchester pushed back, and Daniel McDowell delivered the tying goal at 18:37, finishing a clutch setup from Kaylen Connell and Trevor Tangalin to force overtime.
The first extra frame solved nothing, setting up a second sudden-death period. At 3:45 of double overtime, Isaac Bradley ended the marathon on the power play, burying a pass from Tangalin and Connell to send the home crowd into celebration.
Jimmy Boyd was outstanding for Winchester, stopping 40 of 43 shots in 73:45 of work, while Sebastien Bourgeau turned aside 22 shots in the hard-fought loss.
With the win, Winchester takes a 2–1 series lead, moving one victory away from advancing to the Martin Division Semi-Finals.
