Ottawa, ON – All eyes were on Ottawa Saturday as the EOJHL took centre stage outdoors at the Jim Tubman Rink, where the Ottawa Jr Canadians and Ottawa West Golden Knights delivered a thrilling overtime finish in the league’s Outdoor Classic. Beyond the marquee matchup in the capital, the day also featured a shootout thriller in Athens and a dominant statement performance by Arnprior on the road, rounding out an action-packed slate across the league.
Ottawa 4, Ottawa West 3 (OT)
The EOJHL Outdoor Classic delivered the atmosphere it promised, with Ottawa and Ottawa West trading momentum before the Jr. Canadians skated away with a dramatic overtime victory at the Jim Tubman Rink in the Ottawa suburb of Urbandale.
Ottawa West struck first midway through the opening period as Dylan Murdoch converted on the power play, finishing a setup from Connor Weido and Gavin McCarthy. Ottawa answered on their own man advantage when Sam Glover snapped home the equalizer off feeds from Sydney Loreto and Daniel Kyte.
The Golden Knights regained the lead just under two minutes later as Thomas Dickey beat the goaltender with a clean finish from William McCulligh and Seamus Lockhart, sending Ottawa West into the intermission ahead 2–1.
Ottawa tied things again early in the second period when Joshua Weekes capitalized on a Kyte feed to make it 2–2. The third period swung once more in Ottawa West’s favour, as Max Shewfelt restored the lead midway through the frame with help from Weido.
With time winding down, the Jr. Canadians pushed and were rewarded late. Daniel Kyte buried a power-play marker at the 18-minute mark, set up by Danik Marion and Riley Bloom, forcing overtime.
In extra time, the Outdoor Classic ended in storybook fashion. Sydney Loreto finished the game at 4:34 of overtime, scoring off a feed from Glover to seal the win for Ottawa.
Jackson Curran earned the win in goal for Ottawa, while Carter Overhoff turned aside 29 shots for Ottawa West in the overtime loss. Ottawa improved to 30-8-0-0, while Ottawa West moved to 30-4-4-1.
Athens 3, Richmond 2 (Shootout)
A tight, low-scoring affair ended with a shootout winner as Athens edged Richmond on home ice.
After a scoreless first period, Richmond opened the scoring midway through the second when Remy St. Amand capitalized on the power play, finishing a play from Ethan Fleming and Nicholas Milbury. The Royals doubled their lead later in the period as Gavin Landry found the net off a feed from Daniel Sciarra.
Athens responded before the second intermission, with Parker Kealey cutting the deficit to one on the power play, assisted by Alex McGlade and Finnley Panciuk.
Late in regulation, with the goaltender pulled, the Aeros found the equalizer. Zachary White scored with under a minute remaining, converting a setup from Garritt Palmer and Rylan Boyer to force overtime.
The extra frame solved nothing, setting up a shootout where Cam McNulty provided the lone goal, giving Athens the extra point.
Nicholas Periard was strong in net for Athens, earning the win, while Sam Nolan took the shootout loss despite a 44-save effort for Richmond. Athens moved to 13-19-4-1, while Richmond fell to 17-20-0-3.
Arnprior 11, Carleton Place 2
Already crowned Richardson Division champions, Arnprior showed no signs of slowing down, erupting for 11 goals in a dominant road performance against Carleton Place.
The Packers opened the scoring early when Maxwell Windle scored his first of the night, assisted by Ben Hiel. Colin Lalonde added another later in the period, finishing a play from Ian Kennedy and Alex Oster to make it 2–0 after one.
Arnprior blew the game open in the second period. Cameron Sheppard struck just 12 seconds in, followed by a Carter Downs marker off an Ethan Smith feed. Windle added his second of the night, Andrew Mark scored on the power play, and Smith found the back of the net midway through the period.
Carleton Place briefly answered with goals from Byron Box and Xavier Goussis, but Arnprior quickly pushed back as Smith scored again late in the second to restore a commanding lead.
The third period belonged entirely to the Packers. Sheppard scored his second of the night, Mark added another while shorthanded, and Windle completed the hat trick late on the power play to close out the scoring.
Cole King earned the win in net for Arnprior, while Carson Garrod faced a heavy workload for Carleton Place. Arnprior improved to 30-8-0-0, while Carleton Place slipped to 10-26-3-0.
