NEWS

BY RON VALENTINE

Georgetown's Owen Holmes scores on Oakville’s  Cole DeFazio after exiting the penalty box during the OJHL Game of the Week on CHCH-TV Saturday. Georgetown won 4-2. Trenton hosts Wellington in this Saturday’s game. (Photo by Tim Bates / OJHL Images

It was a massive week in the Ontario Junior Hockey League for teams named Cougars. 

The Burlington variety won all four of their games, one in OT, outsourcing their opponents 21-7, while cats of Cobourg had three regulation wins and one in extra time, scoring 19 goals and allowing nine.  

The Pickering Panthers (who are not Cougars) and Milton Menace posted three wins in three games, with two of the Panthers' contests going into overtime. The St. Michael's Buzzers rebounded from an off week, winning both of their games.

While the Panthers hold a 15-point lead in the North, the other divisions are closer. 

Burlington leads in the West by seven points with Milton having two games in hand. 

In the East, the Trenton Golden Hawks hold a six-point lead over the Wellington Dukes, seven over the Haliburton County Huskies and 10 ahead of the Cobourg Cougars. 

The South continues to be hotly-contested with the Toronto Junior Canadiens a single point ahead of the North York Rangers with the Buzzers only four behind. 

The race for lhe leadership in goalscoring got tighter this week with Burlington's Jack Richard scoring six times to bring his season total to 29 tying Bryce Sutherland, of the Buzzers who had two goals. Milton's Holden Rogers had a goal in each of his club's three games to move up to 28. The Brantford 99ers Easton Wainwright was blanked this week and remains at 28. Haliburton County Huskies' Oliver Tarr and the Junior Canadiens Matthew Wilde have 26.

Buzzers' captain Brad Somers became the first player to reach the 70-point mark for this season. Dalton Bancroft of the Golden Hawks is at 68, Zebedee in Burlington is at 63.

MONDAY - Five games on Family Day. The four matinees all ended in wins for the home team, with two going into overtime.

In Collingwood, Owen Sage scored the overtime winner to give the Blues a 4-3 victory over the Aurora Tigers in a meeting of the second- and third-place teams in the North. With the two points for the Blues and the singleton for the Tigers, the two clubs are tied with 46 points. Hollander Thompson's goal in period two gave the visitors a 3-1 lead before Taylor Barnett got to work with a goal in the second and the tying marker the middle of the third period. Taylor on the game: “The boys knew it was a must-win game coming in and that we were not going to be stopped. On my goals, a couple of lucky bounces went my way and I was able to capitalize on the chances." Seven points in eight games for the former Mississauga Charger.  

For the second straight game the Burlington Cougars won in overtime at home, this time against the Oakville Blades in a 5-4 decision. The home team built up a 3-0 lead before Oakville goals from Adam Tucci and Evan Pringle exactly two minutes apart to lower the deficit to one after two periods. Midway through the third Tucci scored again to send the contest into extra time where Matt Franzoi scored his eleventh for the season. Jack Richard, with number 24, Crossley Stewart and Matt Zebedee with his 25th. gave the Cougars a 3-0 advantage. Zebedee extended his point streak to 12 games. Head Coach Mark Jooris: "The Blades deserved the comeback; they played hard but we stayed with it and got the win."

Three wins in their last five for the Stouffville Spirit as they took a 6-4 home win over the Georgetown Raiders. All the goals in the first two periods were scored into the same net with the Raiders leading 4-0 after one and the Spirit going ahead 5-4 after two. Josh Schmidt picked a good time to score his first OJHL goal. It was the game winner and he also scored into the empty net. Riley Rogers had a goal and two assists and Odaro Ewere had three helpers – he has recorded eight points in his last five games. Newly-minted captain of the Spirit, Joe Kennedy, on Rogers: "He's quiet . but a real 'heart and soul guy,' who really cares about his teammates and wants to be a winner." Blueliner Robert Strachan had a goal and two assists for the Raiders.

Patrick Saini had the game's first two goals as the Haliburton County Huskies topped the Lindsay Muskies 5-3. He also added an assist on Kolby Poulin's first OJHL goal, the game winner. Patrick Schaly had a goal in the first period to make it 3-0 Huskies. The Muskies rallied to tie the game on goals from Boyd Stahlbaum, his 22nd. Duncan Scullion and Nate Burelle. Cameron Kosurko's empty-netter completed the scoring to give Haliburton it's 2nd. win of the season to give them sole occupation of second position in the East.

The winning trend of the home teams continued into the evening contest with the Cobourg Cougars besting the Caledon Admirals 6-1. Getting the Cougars rolling was an affiliate from the Port Hope Panthers, Logan Kelly, with his first OJHL goal. Charlie Da Fonseca and A.J.Cook had a goal and two assists. Justin Jamer scored the game winner. Sebastian Bulovs' power play goal with only two minutes left in the game denied Mason Vaccari his shutout.

TUESDAY - The Milton Menace continued to nip at the heels of the first place Burlington Cougars in the West by besting the Spirit 8-1. James Barbour led the way for Milton with a two-goal, one assist performance. He now has 15 goals, 13 with the Menace. Aiden Hughes also netted his 15th. Jordan Stock had a goal, his 20th, and two assists. Holden Rogers scored his 26th. Davis Bone was the only player to get the puck by William Goumas who was making his debut in the Menace net.

WEDNESDAY - The top two teams in the South were in action this afternoon, both on the road.

A goal and three assists from Charlie Da Fonseca helped the hometown Cobourg Cougars edge the Toronto Junior Canadiens 6-5. Seventeen points in 10 games now for former Drummondville Voltigeur. Andy Reist had two goals including the game winner. After falling behind by two early, the Cougars scored five straight before the end of the first period. Liam Fedak had two goals for the J.C's. and Inkerman's Adam Barkley scored his first OJHL goal. He saw action this season with the OHL's Mississauga Steelheads. The loss ended the Canadiens' four-game winning run and extended the Cougars' streak to four victories.

The North York Rangers moved three points ahead of the J.C's as they bested the Dukes of Wellington 3-1 at home at The Herb. Joseph Lionti's fourth of the season put the Rangers ahead followed by goals from Luca Rea and Isa Parekh and it was 3-0 to the home team just past the halfway mark of the first. The lone Wellington goal, his 16th of the season, came late in the second period on a power play. James Gray saved 26 in his 21st win. With the two points the Rangers became the first team to reach the 60-point mark this season. 

THURSDAY - Ethan Lindsay's overtime goal gave the Pickering Panthers a 3-2 victory over Aurora, who lost their second straight game in extra time. It was the Barrie native's seventh goal of the season and his third game winner. Lucas Rowe extended his point-scoring streak to 13 games tying the season record set by the Junior Canadiens' Tyler Fukakusa with two assists in the game. Owen Brady, his first, and Ian Martin, his 20th, had the other Panther goals. Replying for Aurora- Ethan McFarland and on the power play, Blake Frost.  A 12-point lead atop the North now for the Panthers.

The first of back-to-back home-and-home meetings between the Brantford 99ers and the Burlington Cougars with this one at the Gretzky Centre. Blueliner Sterling Wolters' goal in the third period broke a 3-3 tie and was the game winner. Burlington enjoyed 2-0 and 3-2 leads but the home side rebounded. Jack Richard had his 25th and 26th goals, the second into the vacated Brantford net. Josh Belgrave's 24th of the season was his fifth shorthanded. Josh Ziliotto had the other Cougars' goal. Matthew Zebedee's assist on the Cougars' first goal gave him 60 points and moved his scoring streak to 13 games. Thomas Lenart posted three assists. Lucas Thompson had two for the 99ers and Kurt Wtson the other. Both players now have 14. Five in a row for the top team in the West and a total of 175 goals.

Three goals including the double OT winner by captain Brad Somers as the St. Michael's Buzzers got past the Admirals 3-2 with Caledon 'keeper Cale McWilliams making 49 saves. Ray Hou and Blake Boudreau had the other goals for the home side. For the Buzzers Bryce Sutherland had two assists. 

FRIDAY - Four of the seven games ended in shutouts.

Carter Tahk, with his first shutout in a Milton uniform, saved 19 Tigers' shots as the Menace posted a large 7-0 blanking of Aurora. Andrew Horsley had the hat trick and four points and Ethan Sims scored twice and added two assists. Sims has accumulated 21 points in 16 games since joining the team from the Niagara Ice Dogs. He also has a goal this season for the Hamilton Bulldogs. Holden Rogers and Graydon White completed the scoring. Rogers has nine points in his last four games. For Horsley, who formerly played for the Georgetown Raiders and Toronto Patriots, nine goals in his last eight appearances. 

The Panthers scored four times in the first period in Pickering and went on to shutout the Spirit 6-0 with Zachary Roy making 29 saves to record his fourth clean sheet of the campaign. Elijah Pilosof got the natural hat trick with two goals in the second and his third with just over two minutes left in the game. It was a five-point night for the Panther forward who has 31 points over only 19 games. Dustin Hutton had four assists and Lucas Rowe scored a goal with a minute remaining, which gave him at least one point in his last 14 games. With the losses by Aurora and Collingwood, the Panthers put more daylight between them and their pursuers atop the North.

The Burlington Cougars had five different goalscorers and Kyle Metson saved 28 99ers shots in the 5-0 final at the Central in Burlington. Josh Belgrave scored goal No. 25 and added two assists. Thomas Lenart had a goal and three points. Matt Zebedee's assist on the last goal extended his point-scoring streak to 14 games. Matt Franzoi tallied a shorthaded marker. It was the first shutout of the season for the Cougars. The 99ers Justin Wu made 44 saves. The Cougars' win was their 30th of the season and Associate Coach Kirby Tokarski praised his netminders and Zebedee: "Both of our goalies deserve a lot of credit for their play. We wouldn't be anywhere close to being successful as we have been without them. Matt is a player that brings it to the rink every night and his hard work is reflected in the points he's getting."

In the fourth shutout of the night Mason Vaccari made 31 saves as his Cobourg Cougars won 3-0 in Caledon. It was the first in the OJHL for the 16-year-old rookie.  After a scoreless first, Zach Smith and Aaron Chiarot found the net in period two and Andy Reist  had a power play goal in the third. The Admirals' 'keeper Diego D'Alessandro stopped 43 Cougar shots. Captain Tucker Firth on the Cougars five-game winning run: "We aren't getting too high or too low. We are going into each game with the same mindset, win at all costs."

Game five of the 'Hasty P's Cup' between the Dukes and the Trenton Golden Hawks, the series tied at 2-2 with this one in Wellington. The Dukes' Jacob Vreugdenhil had the game-winner for the fourth time this season, scoring late in the second period. Wellington built up a 3-0 lead on goals from Corbin Roach, Will Mitchell and Barret Joynt, on the powerplay. In period two Aiden MacIntosh and Devin Mauro, also on the power play, got the Golden Hawks back into it. Austin D'Orazio had the other Trenton goal and Queen's commit, Emmet Pierce, the empty-netter. 

The Blades doubled the Blues 4-2 in Collingwood for their 13th road win this season, tied for best in the West with Burlington. Hometown rookie Mason Zebeski had an unassisted marker in the first and an empty-net goal. Andrew Brown and Zach Wigle also connected for the visitors with Dylan Hudon and Will Redick replying for the home side. A big victory for the Blades in their playoff aspirations.

The Toronto Patriots upset the Haliburton Huskies with a 5-2 road win led by a pair of goals from Ryan Forberg, his 14th and 15th of the campaign. McKay Hayes had his team-leading 18th for the winners with Joseph Martino and Nolan Lowe getting in on the scoring. Robert Andreakos Jr. made 48 saves and also picked up an assist on Forberg's first goal. For Haliburton it was Christian Stevens and Patrick Saini. 

SATURDAY - Five road wins from the seven games played. 

The fourth of five "OJHL Games of the Week" from Sixteen Mile Creek in Oakville with the Blades looking for the first win by a home team in the televised games. In the three previous encounters, the visitors outscored the home side 12-3. This one would follow the same pattern with the Georgetown Raiders, led by two goals from Rhys Chittendon, coming out on top with a 4-2 decision. Owen Holmes and Andrew Della Rovere added goals for the winners with Chase Strychaluk, his 17th, and Yanni Kaidonis scoring for Oakville. Georgetown took over third spot in the West with the two points. 

The Golden Hawks' Dalton Bancroft scored the game-winner, shorthanded, early in the final frame as they took a 5-3 decision over the hometown Huskies to move seven points clear in first place in the East. Jake Campbell had two goals, both on the powerplay, to up his season total to 24. Down 3-0 the Huskies got going and tied the game on Joe Boice's first OJHL goal. William Nguyen made 41 stops for his 17th victory in 22 starts, plus he had an assist on Trenton's opening goal.

The Burlington Cougars completed a 4-for-4 week with a convincing 7-1 win in Markham. Three goals for Jack Richard bringing him to 29 and a pair each for Thomas Lenart and Isaac Faccio. Shane Hyman spoiled Zach Dietz's shutout bid with a goal just shy of the 13-minute of the third. Nathan Naves, Josh Ziliotto and Matthew Zebedeee each had two assists. Fifteen games now for Zebedee with at least a point. Road victory 15 for the Cougars along with their seventh 'W' in a row.and an 11-point lead in the West.

Two goals from the Buzzers' Bryce Sutherland that put him tied for the league lead with the Cougars' Jack Richard were key in their 5-1 win in Mississauga. Brad Somers had a goal and an assist. He leads the OJHL with 70 points, two ahead of Trenton's Dalton Bancroft. Riley Sutherland and Jared Coccimiglio also connected for the winners while Owen Sclisizzi had the Charger marker. The ship seems quite well righted for the Buzzers, going 2-for-2 this week.

A big win in their quest for a playoff spot for the Spirit as they edged the Blues 3-2 at home. A power play goal in the contest's last minute from Hayden Simpson gave the home team the valuable two points. Collingwood's Marcus Lougheed and Stouffviille's Dawosn Hettiarachchi (a shorthanded beauty and his first in the league) exchanged goals in the opening 20 minutes. Jake LaVille gave the Blues the lead in the second and that was countered by a Carson Whitson powerplay marker leaving the clubs tied at twos after two. The Spirit have fourth in the North by a point. Same two teams tomorrow in Collingwood.

At the Westwood in Etobicoke, a night for goals with 11 scored in a 6-5 Lindsay victory over the host Toronto Patriots. It fell to their captain Will Jones to get the decider less than a minute after the Patriots Nolan Lowe had tied the game at fives in the third period. A big win for the fifth-place Muskies in the East as they plan to finish with more points than the Patriots, fourth in the South, and force a single game to advance to the playoffs should that scenario transpire. Eleven different players found the net in this one. Boyd Stahlbaum scored his 23rd and Jaden Reyers his first for the victors. The Morrisville NCAA D3 commit on the winning goal..."(Logan) Maunder shot the puck from the point, it went wide and took a weird bounce off the boards on to the back of the net. I smacked the net and the puck came loose and I was able to tuck it in while their goalie was on the other side."

A much-anticipated meeting between the top two teams in the South at the Pond saw the Junior Canadiens move to within one point of North York. Ben Van Waterschoot scored the deciding goal. The J.C's held a 3-2 lead after two periods but Nick Cordeiro's goal in the opening two minutes of period three got the Rangers on even terms. Jacob Bigras and Cooper Bertrand had the other Canadiens' goals. Anthony Piccinnino and Daniel Petreccia scored the others for North York in the 4-3 final scoreline.

SUNDAY -  Cobourg took a five-game winning streak into Wellington and kept it going with an overtime goal by Charlie Da Fonseca, his eighth goal in 12 games played and a three-point game. This was a very close one. It was 0-0 after one, 2-2 after two, and 3-3 at the end of regulation. George Krotiris had two goals, including one on the powerplay, 16 for him on the season. Andy Reist also scored with the man advantage. The Dukes' scorers were Emmet Pierce, his 25th of the campaign. Barret Joynt (No. 16) and David Campbell, his 12th. De Fonseca on his 'new' club: "We really want to win. I think through and through the guys have accepted what it takes to win and are willing to do it. We have a great core of forwards and a strong defence and goalie Justin Easter always gives us a chance to win. And young Mason (Vaccari) is a great support for him, too."

 

With five road wins in a row under their belt, the Pickering Panthers were in Markham and they faced stiff opposition from the Royals, with this contest also going into extra time. Cole Cooksey's first period goal for the Royals, his first in the OJ, held up until Pickering’s Dustin Hutton found the net for the visitors early in the third. The deciding goal was not long coming, just 17 seconds in from defenceman Matthew Altomare. Zachary Roy made 31 stops to take the win with Markham's Nicholas Von Kaufmann saving 33 in the tough loss. A valuable point though for the Royals. Panthers captain Brendan Tomilson on the race for first in the North: "Aurora and Collingwood are good teams who can play with everyone, we were a bit sleepy today."

The usual matinee at the Herb Carnegie with the host North York Rangers hosting the Patriots and the visitors pulling off an upset victory by a 4-2 count. McKay Hayes bookended their scoring to reach the 20 mark. The Patriots never trailed in this game. Jonathon Mead had the other Toronto goal with the Rangers getting replies from Zach Ophoven and Sean Clarke, their 11th and 12th, respectively. A tenuous one-point lead now for North York with the second-place Junior Canadiens having three games in hand.

The second of back-to-back meetings for the Spirit and Collingwood with this one at the Eddie Bush. Revenge was on the minds of the Blues and they came back with a 4-1 victory. Jake LaVille, Taylor Barnett, Will Redick and Collingwood's own Marcus Lougheed. Jacob Roach was the only player to get the puck past Noah Pak who celebrated win number seventeen. The Blues now have a three-point edge on Aurora in the race for second position in the North.  Barnett, who had the game-winner: "With every point meaning as much as it does down the stretch we knew we had to bounce back tonight and work as hard as we could to get the two points and we did that. With the Tigers and ourselves battling for second spot we know every point matters heading to the playoffs and we have to keep the work ethic going down the stretch and I believe we will."

The Brantford 99ers were looking to break off a tough six-game losing streak with Aurora, non-winners in four at the other end of the ice. The Tigers, with a combination of injuries and suspensions, had several AP's in their lineup but Lee Chaing got them off to a good start, scoring his 17th. The 99ers replied in Period 2 courtesy a shorthanded goal from Lucas Thompson and they took the lead in the final frame with a goal from blueliner Jack Robertson and that would prove to be enough to take the two points. Fenwick native Ben Bonisteel was the winning goalie in the tight contest, matched at the other end by Dundalk-born and former Kirkland Lake Gold Miner Glen Crandall. The 99ers have just nine games left in their regular season, having played the most in the OJHL. Head Coach of the 99'ers Dan Fitzgerald is optimistic: "Definitely a big win for our group and we must  use it as a springboard going forward. These are the ebbs and flows of the season and I wouldn't want to play us when we are playing with confidence."

The Menace, losers of just one game in their last eight had the Raiders, fresh off their 'Game of the Week' win and on a 3-for-4 run, as the visitors on 'Pink In the Rink' night. Holden Rogers scored goal No. 28 to put Milton ahead and that stood up through a scoreless second period until Lucas Buzziol and Jordan Stock added the needed insurance in the third. Aien Hughes had two assists. The second consecutive shutout for goalie Carter Tahk. This time he was called upon to make 28 saves. The Menace are determined not to let the Cougars increase their lead in the West.

Back in Toronto for the second night in a row, the Muskies were up against a strong foe, in the J.C's at the Pond. Mathew Wilde and Jake Sederoff got the home team off on the right foot. For Wilde it was No. 26 on the season. Christian Catalano upped the ante to 3-0 and the J.C's would go on to a 5-2 final. They got two goals from Tyler Fukakusa, who had a four-point night and in his team's last seven games has tallied 17 points. He had a 13-game point-scoring streak earlier this season and his points total now stands at 62, tied with Wilde. Catalano needs one more point to reach the 50 mark. For Lindsay, the goals came from Jaden Reyers and Jack Falkner.

Follow Ron Valentine on Twitter @ronandlynda