The Soo U15 Greyhounds put together an impressive weekend in Northern Ontario AAA Hockey League action, sweeping a three-game set against the North Bay U15 AAA Trappers over the January 31 and February 1 weekend in Powassan, Ontario. The Greyhounds showed depth scoring, strong special teams, and timely goaltending as they earned three straight victories.
In game One on Saturday, January 31st, the Greyhounds opened their weekend with a 10:00 a.m. puck drop and a tightly contested matchup that swung back and forth before Soo pulled away late.
North Bay opened the scoring at 3:43 of the first period when Ross Fay scored his 4th of the season, assisted by Elliot Farnsworth. The Greyhounds answered at 2:52 as Kadin Micomonaco tied the game with his 5th of the season, assisted by Gregory Beckerson. The Trappers regained the lead at 2:25 on the power play when Dustin Primeau netted his 5th of the season, assisted by Noah Moyer and Easton Assinewai, giving North Bay a 2–1 lead after one.
Soo responded in the second period. At 9:00, Matti Lappalainen scored his 25th of the season, assisted by Thomas Ubaldi, to tie the game 2–2. North Bay struck again at 7:38 on the power play as Jaxon Giroux scored his 1st of the season, assisted by Elliot Farnsworth and Ross Fay.
The Greyhounds quickly answered. At 4:25, on the power play, Jayden Fisher-Ruck tied the game with his 11th of the season, scoring unassisted. Just over a minute later at 2:58, Lukas Maninos gave Soo its first lead of the game, scoring his 14th of the season, assisted by Thomas Ubaldi and Wyatt Jarrett, sending the Greyhounds into the third period up 4–3.
In the final frame, Soo took control. At 11:54, Lukas Maninos scored his 15th of the season and second of the game, assisted by Hayden Brason-Doan. At 6:32, Matti Lappalainen added his 26th of the season, assisted by Jayden Fisher-Ruck and Gavyn Nevers, extending the lead to 6–3.
North Bay answered at 6:12 on the power play with Easton Assinewai scoring his 9th of the season, assisted by Johnny Langlois. With just seven seconds remaining, Lukas Maninos completed the hat trick, scoring his 16th of the season, assisted by Benjamin Campbell, sealing a 7–4 Greyhounds victory.
Benjamin Clayton earned the win in goal for Soo, while Nash Hinksman tended the net for North Bay.
On Saturday afternoon, game two saw the Greyhounds build momentum early and never look back.
At 9:08 of the first period, Jayden Fisher-Ruck opened the scoring on the power play with his 12th of the season, assisted by Hayden Brason-Doan. At 6:45, Barrett McCabe made it 2–0, scoring his 3rd of the season, assisted by Hayden Brason-Doan and Lukas Maninos.
North Bay cut the lead to 2–1 at 8:12 of the second period as Colton Sarrazin scored his 7th of the season, assisted by Kaleb Boucher. The Greyhounds restored their two-goal cushion at 1:22 when Matti Lappalainen scored his 27th of the season, assisted by Dante Caruso and Jayden Fisher-Ruck.
The third period belonged to Soo. At 18:38, Jayden Fisher-Ruck scored his 13th of the season and second of the game, assisted by Gavyn Nevers and Barrett McCabe. At 11:34, Fisher-Ruck completed the hat trick with his 14th of the season, assisted by Lukas Maninos.
At 7:32, Matti Lappalainen scored his 28th of the season and second of the contest, finishing unassisted. North Bay responded at 6:56 with Dustin Primeau scoring his 6th of the season, assisted by Noah Moyer.
Soo closed out the scoring with two late goals. At 1:28, Matti Lappalainen completed his own hat trick with his 29th of the season, assisted by Gregory Beckerson. At 0:48, Hayden Brason-Doan scored his 10th of the season, assisted by Jeremy Jarratt, sealing an 8–2 win.
Carter Rome picked up the victory in goal for Soo, while Logan Claveau was in net for North Bay.
Sunday morning’s finale was a physical contest, with the Greyhounds entering the game 2–0 against the Trappers on the weekend.
Soo opened the scoring at 12:32 of the first period when Wyatt Jarrett netted his 17th of the season, assisted by Lukas Maninos and Jeremy Jarratt. With just 50 seconds remaining in the period, Lukas Maninos made it 2–0, scoring his 17th of the season, assisted by Dante Caruso and Jayden Fisher-Ruck.
North Bay got on the board at 8:06 of the second period on the power play as Madden Larochelle scored his 6th of the season, assisted by Rylan Ringler. Soo answered at 7:45 when Hayden Brason-Doan scored his 11th of the season, assisted by Kadin Micomonaco and Gavyn Nevers.
The Trappers pulled within one at 3:43 on the power play when Noah Moyer scored his 7th of the season, assisted by Kaleb Boucher and Easton Assinewai, making it 3–2 heading into the third.
North Bay tied the game at 17:42 of the third on the power play as Kaleb Boucher scored his 6th of the season, assisted by Easton Assinewai. Just 26 seconds later, the Greyhounds answered with a power-play goal from Barrett McCabe, his 4th of the season, assisted by Jayden Fisher-Ruck and Hayden Brason-Doan.
The Trappers tied it again at 14:58 on the power play when Johnny Langlois scored his 6th of the season, assisted by Jaxon Giroux. At 11:07, Matti Lappalainen delivered the game-winner, scoring his 30th of the season, unassisted. With North Bay pressing late, Hayden Brason-Doan sealed the win at 1:24 with a shorthanded empty-net goal, scoring unassisted, giving Soo a 6–4 victory.
With the three wins, the Soo U15 Greyhounds completed a perfect weekend sweep in Powassan and continued their strong play in Northern Ontario AAA Hockey League action.
The Greyhounds will now head to Sturgeon Falls, Ontario, for four games over the February 6–8 weekend. Soo opens the weekend Friday at 7:00 p.m. against the Sudbury U15 Wolves. On Saturday, the Greyhounds face the North Bay U15 Trappers at 8:00 a.m., followed by a 2:00 p.m. matchup with the Timmins Majors. The weekend wraps up Sunday morning with a 9:30 a.m. contest against the Thunder Bay Kings.
