Ottawa, ON – The EOJHL Division Finals got underway Thursday night with both higher-seeded teams making strong opening statements. The Casselman Vikings used a balanced attack to defeat the Ottawa Jr Canadians, while the Smiths Falls Jr. Bears delivered a dominant shutout performance against the Renfrew Timberwolves. Both clubs now hold 1–0 series leads in their respective Division Finals.
Casselman 5, Ottawa 3
Casselman opened the Martin Division Final with a composed and timely offensive performance to take Game 1.
Ottawa struck first late in the opening period when Mattias Côté scored at 16:00 off a feed from Logan Power. Casselman responded quickly, as Tristan Witmer tied the game at 17:57 with help from Niam McArthur.
The Vikings grabbed the lead early in the second period when Alexis Lafrance scored on the power play at 3:02, finishing a setup from Tristan Simoneau and Kaleb Fogarty.
Ottawa answered midway through the period with Jason Cyr tying the game at 8:48, and then took the lead at 15:57 when Jacob Perreault scored off assists from Riley Bloom and Côté.
Casselman responded before the end of the period, as Witmer netted his second of the night at 19:47 to tie the game 3–3 heading into the third.
The Vikings took control in the final frame. Jeremy Bessette scored the go-ahead goal at 1:47 off a feed from Witmer, and Simon Toupin sealed the victory with an empty-net goal at 18:28.
Myles Boudreau made 24 saves in the win, while Jackson Curran turned aside 30 shots for Ottawa.
With the victory, Casselman takes a 1–0 series lead.
Smiths Falls 6, Renfrew 0
Smiths Falls delivered a statement performance to open the Richardson Division Final, shutting out Renfrew 6–0.
The Bears broke things open late in the first period with a three-goal surge. Jorden Davis opened the scoring at 15:08, followed by Jordan Parsons at 16:47, before Xander Pasher added a power-play goal at 19:36 to give Smiths Falls a commanding 3–0 lead after one.
The momentum continued into the second period, where Timothy Bourne scored on the power play just 58 seconds in. Caleb Bourne extended the lead later in the period, finishing a play from Nick Colson and Parsons.
Lincoln Chalmers added a sixth goal in the third period to cap off the dominant effort.
Matthew Saari was perfect in goal, stopping all 26 shots he faced for the shutout.
With the win, Smiths Falls takes a 1–0 series lead.
