Over the weekend of October 17th to 19th, the Soo U18 Greyhounds of the GNU18HL hit the road to Ottawa to compete against 39 elite hockey programs from across Eastern Canada at the 2025 Ottawa Senators AAA Tournament. Facing tough competition across four games, the Greyhounds showcased determination, depth, and special teams strength in their first major showcase of the season.
Game One – Friday, October 17th (12:15 p.m)
Dartmouth Steele Subaru Majors 1 – Soo Greyhounds 1
The Greyhounds opened their tournament schedule against the Dartmouth Steele Subaru Majors. Dartmouth’s Hunter MacLean put his team on the board at 13:37 of the first, assisted by Brendan Smith and Quinton Land. After a scoreless second period, the Soo equalized on the power play at 7:30 of the third when Dreyon Boissoneau capitalized on a rebound from Espen Escasa’s setup.
Goaltenders
Soo – Sebastien Brassard
Dartmouth – Will Cole
Game Two – Friday, October 17th (5:30 p.m)
Soo Greyhounds 3 – Barrie Colts 3
The Soo’s second matchup saw an offensive back-and-forth battle with the Barrie Colts. Jackson Thornton opened the scoring just 41 seconds into the game, assisted by Anthony Spironello and Hunter Thorkilson. Barrie’s Ben Marling tied it at 14:31.
Early in the second, Boissoneau struck again on the power play with helpers from Escasa and Francesco Reda, but Barrie responded minutes later when Cooper Oikawa netted a man-advantage marker.
In the third, Nathan Cloutier gave the Colts the lead at 8:34 before Finlay Escasa pulled the Greyhounds even two minutes later, assisted by Thornton and Finlay Carlson.
Goaltenders
Soo – Gavin Zuccato
Barrie – Sebastien Morden
Game Three – Saturday, October 18th (11:00 a.m)
Soo Greyhounds 1 – Don Mills Flyers 1
In another closely contested outing, the Soo traded goals with the Don Mills Flyers. Liam Burns-Gonzalez scored late in the first for Don Mills, but the Greyhounds answered midway through the third when Hunter Thorkilson converted on a setup from Escasa and Myka Venneri to earn the tie.
Goaltenders
Soo – Sebastien Brassard
Don Mills – Austin Deratnay
Game Four – Saturday, October 18th (6:30 p.m)
Sudbury Wolves 5 – Soo Greyhounds 2
The Soo wrapped up tournament play with an all-GNU18HL showdown against the Sudbury Wolves. After a scoreless first, Sudbury’s Landen Lake-Rego opened the scoring early in the second, but the Greyhounds answered quickly as Jacob Vincent buried a feed from Makks Demidovich and Escasa. Moments later, Nathan Dupuis gave the Soo the lead with a power-play marker assisted by Escasa and Aiden Giovanatti.
However, Sudbury stormed back with three unanswered goals — Brett Moxam and Denver Mulligan each scoring in the third before Logan Moran sealed it with an empty-netter.
Goaltenders
Soo – Gavin Zuccato
Sudbury – Owen Lamothe
The Soo U18 Greyhounds closed out their weekend in Ottawa with several strong performances and valuable experience against high-level competition. Next up, they return home for a midweek matchup on Wednesday, October 22nd at 8:00 p.m. against the Soo U16 Greyhounds at the John Rhodes Community Centre.
