Photo Credit: Freeze Frame Photos

After a tough opening game, the Soo Jr. Greyhounds responded in a big way on Thursday, April 9th, earning a 5-3 victory over the Elgin Middlesex Canucks in their second game of the 2026 All-Ontario U15 AAA Championships in Thunder Bay. Coming off a 9-1 loss to the Vaughan Kings, the Greyhounds came out sharp and set the tone early, while the Canucks entered the matchup following a 4-4 tie with the host Thunder Bay Kings.

The Greyhounds wasted no time getting on the scoreboard in the opening period. Just 56 seconds into the game, Jayden Fisher-Ruck opened the scoring to make it 1-0, finishing a play set up by Gavyn Nevers. Less than a minute later, at 1:39, Dante Caruso doubled the lead, converting on a chance created by Kadin Micomonaco to give Soo a quick 2-0 advantage heading into the remainder of the period.

Soo continued to control the play into the second period, extending their lead at 12:52. Barrett McCabe found the back of the net to make it 3-0, with Lukas Maninos and Wyatt Jarrett picking up the assists as the Greyhounds carried a comfortable cushion into the final frame.

In the third period, the Greyhounds appeared to put the game out of reach early. At 2:06, Lukas Maninos made it 4-0 with a goal assisted by Matti Lappalainen and Gregory Beckerson. However, the Canucks refused to go away quietly and mounted a late push. Andrew Adzija got Elgin Middlesex on the board at 7:18 with help from Taeo Maola, cutting the deficit to 4-1. Tyson Orr followed at 10:31, scoring off a pass from Ethan Muscedere to make it 4-2. Just over a minute later, Cameron Marcy struck unassisted at 11:46, suddenly bringing the Canucks within one at 4-3.

With momentum beginning to shift, the Greyhounds responded at a critical moment. At 12:33, Wyatt Jarrett restored a two-goal lead, finishing off a play from Lukas Maninos to secure the 5-3 victory for Soo.

In goal, Ben Clayton made 16 saves on 19 shots to earn the win for the Greyhounds, while Axon Brush turned aside 19 of 24 shots in the loss for Elgin Middlesex.

Greyhound goaltender Ben Clayton told Saultsports that “it was a tough loss this morning against a very good team. For me, I knew how important this game was to our group and I wanted my first start of the weekend to be strong. As a team we quickly moved past this morning’s game and put our focus on the game against Elgin. Before this game, we had not beaten them but knew we could.”

“We know when you get to a competition like this that all teams will battle until the final buzzer. I stuck to my routines and just kept focusing on the next play,” added Clayton.

With the victory, the Greyhounds improve to 1-1 at the tournament and will look to carry that momentum into their next game on Friday, April 10th, when they face the Thunder Bay Kings at 2:00 p.m. Meanwhile, the Canucks will look to rebound in a 10:00 a.m matchup against the York-Simcoe Express.