Over the February 14th and 15th weekend, the Soo U15 AAA Greyhounds headed south for a pair of exhibition games against the Upper Canada College Blues, testing themselves against strong competition in Toronto.
In the opening game, the Blues jumped out to an early lead in the first period. Kian Selby opened the scoring at 7:29, assisted by Hudson Byck and Francesco Lettieri, before Elijah Jack took over offensively. Jack scored at 16:08 with helpers from Peter Sykes and Ethan Andri, added another at 5:13 assisted by Sykes and Bohdan Gorenstein, and capped off a dominant period with an unassisted goal at 0:01 to make it 4–0. After a scoreless second period, the Greyhounds found their footing late. Jayden Fisher-Ruck broke the shutout at 5:19 of the third, assisted by Greg Beckerson and Gavyn Nevers, followed by Ben Campbell scoring at 0:32 with Matti Lappalainen earning the assist. Ben Clayton handled the goaltending duties for the Greyhounds, while Daxx Partridge was in goal for the Blues.
Game two proved to be a much tighter contest and showcased the Greyhounds’ resilience. Upper Canada College struck first in the opening period with Bohdan Gorenstein scoring twice, both assisted by Francesco Lettieri, to take a 2–0 lead. The Greyhounds responded in the second period, beginning with Kadin Micomonaco scoring at 12:27 off assists from Jasper Jarratt and Hayden Brason-Doan. Jayden Fisher-Ruck tied the game at 4:28 with an unassisted marker before Greg Beckerson gave the Soo the lead at 3:36, assisted by Barrett McCabe. Wyatt Jarrett extended the advantage at 3:03 with McCabe picking up his second assist of the period, and Matti Lappalainen made it 5–2 at 2:13 with helpers from Jarratt and Jarrett. The Blues answered late in the frame as Felix Lloren scored at 0:01, assisted by Peter Sykes.
The third period saw Upper Canada College mount a comeback, with Ethan Andri scoring twice—at 16:15 assisted by Greg Beckerson and at 12:16 assisted by Francesco Lettieri—to force overtime. Just one minute into the extra frame, Gorenstein completed his hat trick, finishing an overtime winner off an assist from Andri to secure the victory for the Blues. Ben Clayton again tended goal for the Greyhounds, while Ryan Fransen was between the pipes for Upper Canada College.
Despite the results, the weekend provided the Soo U15 AAA Greyhounds with meaningful high-level competition, late-game situations, and valuable lessons that will benefit the group as they continue their season.
