Orangeville Bears capture CWOSSA AAA boys’ hockey title
FERGUS – The District 10 champion Orangeville Bears are headed to the OFSAA provincial high school boys’ hockey AAA championship tournament after winning the CWOSSA AAA title Tuesday at the Centre Wellington Community Sportsplex.
The CWOSSA title was Orangeville’s first since 2014.
The Bears captured the title with a 4-1 victory over the Grand River Renegades of Kitchener Tuesday afternoon. They yielded the first goal of the game early in the second period, but led 3-1 at the end of the period. A pair of goals 74 seconds apart in the final three minutes of the period broke a 1-1 tie and put Orangeville ahead for good.
Orangeville scored a pair of power-play goals. Each team was assessed five minor penalties while the Renegades also picked up a game misconduct for checking from behind.
Jackson Shabot led the Bears with a two-goal outing while Lakhtaj Sandhu and Owen Hambly added single goals. Braden Gilmore and Ty Ensom each had an assist.
Evan Wallace tallied for Grand River while Brayden Beatson set up the goal.
The Bears and Renegades had meet a day earlier in pool play with the Renegades prevailing 3-2 with the winning goal coming with less than 10 seconds to go in regulation time.
Both teams gained berths in the final with semifinal victories Tuesday morning. Orangeville edged the Monsignor Doyle Mustangs of Cambridge 3-2 in overtime while Grand River defeated the defending champion Elmira Lancers 5-1. Elmira won its second consecutive CWOSSA title in 2020 in Fergus. This year’s championship tournament was the first since then as the previous two were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Shabot scored the overtime winner in the semifinal for Orangeville after the Bears had taken a lead when Tristan Brindley and Ensom scored five seconds apart late in the second period. Branden Douglas, Shabot and Sandhu each had an assist.
A goal by Jack Whibbs early in the first period gave Monsignor Doyle the early lead while Cameron Hattie scored with 56 seconds to go in regulation time to force the overtime. James Mackay, Hattie, Aiden Singh and Aiden Goias each had an assist.
Grand River jumped ahead early in its physical semifinal with Elmira as the Renegades held a 2-0 lead before the game was six minutes old. They added two more goals in the second and one in the third to complete the scoring.
Trey Weinstein, Jacob Reid Brandt, Caleb Cumming, Cole Hunsberger and Wallace had a goal apiece for Grand River while Wallace had two assists and Brayden Beatson, Cumming, Reid Brandt and Colin Arsenault each had one.
Will Lavigne scored in the second period for Elmira while Ethan Bickerton had an assist.
The Renegades were assessed 10 minor penalties and a game misconduct for checking from behind in the game while the short-staffed Lancers were assessed nine minor penalties. Elmira had 12 players, including two goaltenders, suited up for the game.
Orangeville advances to the OFSAA provincial tournament at Windsor March 21 to 23.
- Guelph Sports Journal