Ottawa, ON – Saturday night featured three games across the EOJHL, with each matchup telling a different story — a tight back-and-forth battle in Athens, a wild offensive surge in Carleton Place, and a goaltending-driven shutout in Glengarry. Casselman, Perth, and Embrun all collected important road wins as the regular season pushes deeper into its final stretch.
Casselman 5, Athens 3
After a scoreless opening period, the game opened up quickly in the second. Casselman struck first at 1:58 when Tristan Witmer finished a play set up by Kaleb Fogarty and Jeremy Bessette. Athens responded just under two minutes later as Garritt Palmer beat Maxim Lavoie off a feed from Baron Gleason.
The Aeros took their first lead midway through the period when Alex McGlade scored at 13:37, converting passes from Parker Kealey and Cohen Merkley. Casselman answered again at 16:37, with Alexis Lafrance tying the game before Athens regained the lead at 18:15 as Palmer scored his second of the night.
The third period belonged to Casselman. Lafrance struck again at 8:39, finishing a setup from Thomas Ranger and Tristan Simoneau to even the score. Just over three minutes later, Jeremy Bessette gave the Vikings the lead with a quick release off another assist from Fogarty. Athens pushed for the equalizer late, but Casey Hayward sealed the win with an empty-net goal at 19:22.
Maxim Lavoie made 32 saves in the victory as Casselman improved to 27-5-0-0, while Marshall Greig turned aside 43 shots in the loss. Athens drops to 11-17-4-0.
Perth 6, Carleton Place 5
Carleton Place opened the scoring early on the power play as Cooper Dawe finished a setup from Matt Legge and Xavier Goussis, but Perth responded almost immediately with Ayden Childerhose tying the game. From there, the Blue Wings surged.
Perth rattled off five first-period goals, including tallies from Kaius Newberry, Arjun Uppal (twice), and Colby Hunter, building a commanding lead heading into the second. Kden Womack extended that advantage early in the middle frame before Carleton Place began to chip away.
The Jr Canadians got goals from Adamo Ghantous and Dawe, then made it a one-goal game in the third with goals by Xavier Goussis and Byron Box on the power play. Despite heavy pressure late, Perth held on to secure the win.
Rowan Williamson stopped 41 shots for Perth, while William Ross made 39 saves in the loss. Perth improves to 12-18-1-2, while Carleton Place falls to 10-22-2-0.
Embrun 3, Glengarry 0
After two scoreless periods dominated by goaltending and defensive structure, Embrun broke through early in the third. Xavier Boulanger opened the scoring at 3:25, finishing a pass from Alexis Methot, then struck again just 13 seconds later with help from Wyatt Leblanc and Yanick Blanchard.
The Panthers put the game out of reach at 10:08 on the power play when Tomy Lariviere converted a setup from Blanchard and Boulanger.
Jake Dignard was perfect in goal, stopping all 23 shots he faced for the shutout. Parker Sauve made 35 saves for Glengarry. Embrun improves to 8-16-6-5, while Glengarry slips to 14-14-2-2.
