Photo Credit: Freeze Frame Photos
The Soo U15 Greyhounds came within one goal of completing an incredible turnaround but ultimately fell 3-2 to the Vaughan Kings in the gold medal game of the 2026 All-Ontario U15AAA Championships on Sunday, April 12th at Fort William Arena in Thunder Bay.
The matchup marked a rematch from round robin play on April 9th, where the Kings handed the Greyhounds a 9-1 loss. This time, however, the Soo delivered a much tighter, hard-fought contest right down to the final minutes.
The opening period saw no scoring, as both teams played a cautious and structured game, with strong defensive efforts and solid goaltending keeping things scoreless through the first frame.
The deadlock was finally broken late in the second period. At 13:06, Bennett Hatch opened the scoring for Vaughan with an unassisted goal, giving the Kings a 1-0 lead heading into the third period.
The Greyhounds responded early in the final frame. At 3:15, Wyatt Jarrett evened the score at 1-1 with an unassisted goal, igniting momentum for the Soo.
Vaughan answered quickly just under a minute later. At 4:11, Jasper Wang restored the Kings’ lead, finishing a play set up by Andrew Kourtis to make it 2-1.
Refusing to back down, the Greyhounds battled back once again. At 10:30, Matti Lappalainen tied the game 2-2, capitalizing on a setup from Wyatt Jarrett and Barrett McCabe to bring the Soo even once more.
But the Kings would have the final say. At 12:35, Thomas Luksic scored the game-winning goal for Vaughan, with Philip Madonna picking up the assist, securing a 3-2 victory and the championship title.
Greyhound coach Cole Jarrett told Saultsports that “I am extremely proud of the entire group. That was arguably the best team in North America all year and we gave them all they could handle. This one is definitely bitter sweet, extremely proud of the group but disappointed in the result.”
“I think the difference was that we played six really good games between the first and the last games. It’s a different pace and we just got better and better as the weekend went along,” added coach Jar
Despite the loss, the Greyhounds showcased tremendous growth and resilience throughout the tournament, bouncing back from an early lopsided defeat to push one of the top teams in the province to the limit in the gold medal game.
