Ottawa, ON – Friday night action around the EOJHL featured tight checking, special-teams swings, and a surprise result atop the standings. Athens earned a hard-fought road win in Perth, Carleton Place stunned first-place Arnprior, Casselman stayed red-hot in Embrun, and Winchester needed a shootout to get past Glengarry at home.
Athens 3, Perth 2
Perth opened the scoring late in the first period when Kaius Newberry finished a feed from Chase McAndrew at 17:44 to give the Blue Wings a 1–0 lead.
Athens flipped the game in the second with special teams doing the damage. Short-handed, Parker Kealey tied it at 8:57 after taking a pass from Alex McGlade. Just over two minutes later, Athens struck on the power play as McGlade scored his first of the season, set up by Cameron Kelly, putting the Aeros ahead 2–1.
Perth responded quickly when Newberry scored his second of the night at 12:22 off a James Lake assist. The eventual game-winner came at 15:36, as Cameron Kelly buried a power-play marker from Michael Donovan and Finnley Panciuk.
Marshall Greig was the difference in goal, turning aside 44 of 46 shots for Athens. Jackson Howell made 36 saves in the loss for Perth. Athens improves to 11-15-4-0, while Perth falls to 10-17-1-2.
Carleton Place 5, Arnprior 2
Arnprior started strong, opening the scoring at 9:40 of the first when Rowan Casey capitalized on a setup from Andrew Mark and Brendan Lynch. Early in the second, Ethan Smith doubled the lead on the power play, finishing a pass from Jackson Taylor.
Carleton Place answered back quickly. Landon Legris pulled the Jr. Canadians within one at 3:36, before Adamo Ghantous tied the game at 4:43. Just before the intermission, Brady Barnes gave Carleton Place its first lead, scoring with two seconds left in the period off a Reid Hapke assist.
The visitors added insurance early in the third when Noah Green scored 28 seconds in, with Xavier Goussis and Byron Box picking up assists. Goussis sealed the upset with an empty-net goal at 19:59.
William Ross was outstanding for Carleton Place, stopping 41 of 43 shots. drops to 24-7-0-0, while Carleton Place improves to 9-20-2-0, knocking off the Richardson Division leaders.
Casselman 4, Embrun 1
Casselman broke through late in the first when Alexis Lafrance scored at 16:13 off feeds from Marc-Olivier McCarthy and Jeremy Bessette. Embrun answered in the final seconds of the period as Owen Raine tied it at 19:58, assisted by Andrew Lankester and Xavier Boulanger.
The Vikings took control early in the third. Lafrance struck again at 1:41, finishing a pass from Bessette and Kaleb Fogarty, before Owen Bird extended the lead at 2:48 with help from Owen Mann. Simon Toupin capped the scoring at 9:39, converting a feed from Cédric Ouimet.
Justin Audet earned the win with 27 saves, while Jake Dignard stopped 39 shots for Embrun. Casselman moves to 26-4-0-0, while Embrun drops to 7-15-4-5.
Winchester 3, Glengarry 2 (Shootout)
Winchester opened the scoring just under two minutes in when John MacLeod finished a play from Owen Pelletier and Jackson Hill. Glengarry answered at 6:09, with Evan Bothwell tying the game on a feed from Codyn Sloan and Zach Boltz.
MacLeod restored the Hawks’ lead early in the second, scoring again at 1:47, before Glengarry replied on the power play when Liam Gray made it 2–2, assisted by Hayden Mader and Carter Rolland.
Neither team scored through the third period or overtime. In the shootout, Jackson Hill converted the shootout winner.
Jimmy Boyd made 35 saves in regulation and overtime for the Hawks, while Maxime Mayer stopped 38 shots for Glengarry. Winchester improves to 13-17-1-0, with Glengarry now 14-12-2-1.
