Ottawa, ON – The Winchester Hawks are moving on.
Winchester closed out its Martin Division Wild Card series Thursday night with a disciplined 2–1 road victory over the Embrun Panthers, claiming the best-of-five matchup 3–1 and punching its ticket to the Martin Division Semi-Finals against the #1 seed Casselman Vikings.
Winchester 2, Embrun 1
After a tightly contested, scoreless opening period, Winchester seized control in a blink early in the second.
Just 22 seconds into the frame, Daniel McDowell broke the deadlock, finishing a feed from Kyler Leboutillier to give the Hawks their first lead of the night. Less than 30 seconds later, Isaac Bradley doubled the advantage, converting a setup from Zach Pereira and Kaylen Connell to stun the home crowd and swing the series firmly in Winchester’s favour.
Embrun pushed back late in the period, finally breaking through at 19:36 when Wyatt Leblanc cut the deficit to one, setting up a tense final frame.
The third period became a showcase for Jacob Turpin.
Winchester’s netminder turned aside wave after wave of Panthers pressure, stopping all 17 shots he faced in the final period and finishing with 47 saves on 48 shots in a standout elimination performance. Embrun pressed with the extra attacker late, but Turpin and the Hawks held firm to secure the series-clinching win.
Jake Dignard made 30 saves for Embrun in the loss.
With the victory, Winchester wins the Wild Card series 3–1 and advances to face the #1 seed Casselman Vikings in the Martin Division Semi-Finals.
