Ottawa, ON – It was a busy Saturday across the EOJHL with three games on tap. Ottawa West kept pace in the Martin Division race with a strong road win, Arnprior earned an important extra point in an overtime thriller in Carleton Place, and Embrun delivered one of their most complete performances of the season with a shutout victory in Glengarry. Full recaps below.
Ottawa West 4, Smiths Falls 1
The Ottawa West Golden Knights continued their hot streak with a 4–1 win over the Smiths Falls Jr. Bears, powered by a quick start and another strong performance between the pipes.
Connor Weido opened the scoring at 5:23 of the first, tallying his eighth of the season. Just under ten minutes later, Justin Murdoch doubled the lead with an unassisted marker to give Ottawa West a 2–0 cushion through 20 minutes.
The Golden Knights struck early again in the second as Brennan Miller buried his first of the year just 33 seconds in, finishing a setup from Thomas Dickey and William McCulligh to make it 3–0.
In the third, Dickey added his 25th of the season at 4:53, extending the lead to four. Smiths Falls broke the shutout with 3:42 remaining when Brody Nielissen scored his tenth from Nico Ilias and Caleb Bourne, but that’s as close as the Jr. Bears would get.
Carter Overhoff stopped 24 of 25 shots for the win, while Brandon Partrick made 41 saves in the loss.
Ottawa West improves to 16-2-2-0, two points back of first-place Ottawa in the Martin Division. Smiths Falls falls to 8-13-0-0.
Arnprior 5, Carleton Place 4 (OT)
In one of the wildest finishes of the season, the Arnprior Packers edged the Carleton Place Jr. Canadians 5–4 in overtime, thanks to a late third-period equalizer and an OT winner from Captain Carter Downs.
Arnprior grabbed control early in the first. At 6:57, Ethan Smith opened the scoring with his 19th of the season from Carter Downs and Brendan Lynch. At 16:07, Elliott Bondy scored his first of the year to make it 2–0 after one.
Carleton Place responded early in the second on the power play when Xavier Boissonneault scored his first of the season at 4:45. But at 8:58, Smith restored the two-goal lead with his second of the night, assisted by Downs and Ian Kennedy, giving the Packers a 3–1 lead through 40 minutes.
The third period delivered chaos. Noah Green cut the deficit to one at 5:08, and with 1:09 remaining, Brady Barnes tied the game 3–3. Arnprior answered just 16 seconds later when Alex Oster scored to regain the lead—but only 10 seconds after that, Luke Humby tied it again for Carleton Place, sending the game to overtime at 4–4.
In OT, Downs ended it at 2:28 with an unassisted winner—his 14th of the season—to give the Packers the extra point.
Nathan Carlson finished with 23 saves in the win, while William Ross stopped 30 for Carleton Place.
Arnprior improves to 13-5-0-0, extending their division lead. Carleton Place drops to 6-12-2-0.
Embrun 4, Glengarry 0
The Embrun Panthers delivered a complete 60-minute effort on the road, shutting out the Glengarry Prowlers 4–0 behind a 28-save performance from Jackson Howell.
The Panthers struck early when Xavier Boulanger buried his ninth of the season at 5:02 of the first, assisted by Yanick Blanchard.
After a back-and-forth middle frame, Embrun extended the lead at 13:51 when Alexis Méthot converted on a feed from Wyatt Leblanc. At 18:04, Tomy Larivière scored his third of the season on the power play from Rémi Gendron and Leblanc to make it 3–0 heading into the third.
In the final frame, Blanchard added a power-play marker at 7:10—his 13th of the season—off assists from Andrew Lankester and Boulanger to seal the win.
Howell stood tall whenever called upon, earning the shutout. Parker Sauvé made 38 saves for Glengarry in the loss.
Embrun improves to 5-9-3-4, while Glengarry drops to 11-7-2-0.
