The Soo U15AA Greyhounds traveled south to Vaughan, Ontario over the April 17–19 weekend to represent Northern Ontario at the 2026 U15AA OHF Championships. Competing against some of the province’s top programs—including the Clarington Toros, Greater Toronto Capitals, London Jr. Knights, and host Vaughan Raiders—the Greyhounds opened tournament play Friday morning against a strong Clarington squad.
Clarington wasted little time setting the tone in game one, jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the first period. Owen Kerr opened the scoring at 10:27 with his first of the championships, assisted by Owen Cryderman, before Cole Andrus doubled the lead at 3:19, finishing a setup from Ashton Cannon. The Toros extended their lead in the second period, beginning with a powerplay marker from Ashton Cannon at 14:30, assisted by Kerr. Cole Millson made it 4-0 at 8:32 with an unassisted effort before the Greyhounds responded late in the frame. Riely Deplonty got Soo on the board at 0:39, scoring his first of the tournament off a feed from Matais Wellwood-Pulkkinen.
The Greyhounds carried that momentum into the third period, cutting the deficit to 4-2 at 13:02 when Ethan Myers found the back of the net, assisted by Cole Braido and Deplonty. However, Clarington quickly regained control. Cryderman restored the three-goal lead with an unassisted marker at 11:52, followed by goals from Nicholas Nalysnyk at 9:57 (assisted by Benjamin Gostyn) and Harland Relph at 5:39 (also assisted by Gostyn) to seal a 7-2 victory. Teri Mayer took the loss in goal for Soo, while Anderson D’Souza earned the win for the Toros.
Looking to bounce back, the Greyhounds returned to the ice later Friday to face the Greater Toronto Capitals in their second game of the tournament. The Capitals struck early, with Gabriel Logullo scoring twice in quick succession—his first at 8:10 from Orlando Lisena and Jordan Bautista, and his second at 7:07 off passes from Marco Fiorino and Thomas Harrison—to give Greater Toronto a 2-0 lead.
Soo responded before the end of the opening frame, beginning with Cohen Kellar’s first of the championships at 1:51, assisted by James Stevens and Kyle Wallenius. With just one second remaining in the period, Owen Webb tied the game 2-2, finishing a play set up by Ethan Myers in dramatic fashion.
The back-and-forth continued in the second period. Jordan Bautista restored the Capitals’ lead at 11:45, converting passes from Anthony Russo and Harrison. Once again, the Greyhounds answered, as Deplonty picked up his second goal of the tournament at 10:59, assisted by Braido and Webb, to even things at 3-3. However, Orlando Lisena netted the eventual game-winner at 8:09, finishing a play from Logullo and Harrison to give Greater Toronto a 4-3 advantage.
The third period saw no scoring despite efforts from both sides, as the Capitals held on for the win. Lucas Martin took the loss in net for the Greyhounds, while Griffin Williams secured the victory for Greater Toronto. In net for the Greyhounds, Tanner Carriere took the loss, while Ethan Piazza backstopped the Capitals to a win on Friday afternoon.
With two tough losses to open the tournament, the Greyhounds will look to regroup as they return to action Saturday morning at 10:00 a.m. against the London Jr. Knights, aiming to get into the win column and keep their championship hopes alive.
