Photo Credit: Freeze Frame Photos

The Soo U15 Greyhounds showed resilience and determination on Saturday, April 11th, battling back multiple times to earn a 5-5 draw against the York Simcoe Express on day three of the 2026 All-Ontario U15AAA Championships in Thunder Bay.

York Simcoe came out flying in the opening period, striking early and often. Just 2:30 into the game, Lucas Sprogis opened the scoring for the Express, finishing a play set up by Lucas Reid to make it 1-0. Just over a minute later at 3:34, Reed Budgell doubled the lead for York Simcoe with assists from Mason Podstatzky and Jake Torresan, putting the Greyhounds on their heels early.

The Soo responded quickly to stop the momentum. At 5:47, Lukas Maninos got the Greyhounds on the board, finishing a play from Matti Lappalainen and Wyatt Jarrett to cut the deficit to 2-1. The comeback continued late in the period, as Matti Lappalainen tied the game 2-2 at 14:05, with assists coming from Jayden Fisher-Ruck and Benjamin Campbell.

In the second period, York Simcoe regained control. At 11:55, Brayden Featherstone restored the Express lead with help from Ryo Han and Antonio Lucente, making it 3-2. Just 32 seconds later at 12:27, Pearson Carbonell extended the lead to 4-2, finishing a play assisted by James Kean and Lucas Reid.

Trailing by two heading into the third period, the Greyhounds once again mounted an impressive comeback. At 6:54, Hayden Brason-Doan brought the Soo within one, scoring off assists from Wyatt Jarrett and Jeremy Jarratt. Just over a minute later at 8:04, Lukas Maninos struck for his second of the game to tie things at 4-4, with Wyatt Jarrett and Benjamin Campbell picking up the assists.

The Greyhounds then took their first lead of the game at 9:35, when Jasper Jarratt found the back of the net with assists from Jayden Fisher-Ruck and Matti Lappalainen, giving the Soo a 5-4 advantage.

However, the Express refused to back down. At 11:20, Nicholas Spagnol evened the score at 5-5, finishing a play set up by Beckett Hawthorne, which would stand as the final score in a back-and-forth contest.

In goal, Ben Clayton got the start for the Greyhounds, while Jackson Knight tended the net for the Express.

Greyhound forward Wyatt Jarrett told Saultsports that “we knew coming in to the game this morning it was a pretty big one, we came out a little slow and they got up two nothing but we were able to fight back to tie the game at two. In the second period we had a few breakdowns and they ended up getting two on us to make it 4-2 but in the locker room we were able to stay positive and come out strong and we were able to get momentum when we got the first one that period, then we scored two more to get up in the game then they scored that one on the power play to tie it. I really like the compete and battle to not give up on that game it was really fun to watch and play.”

Tonight is a huge game if we want to keep our season alive, but as long as we have the same compete and desperation we had this morning it’s gonna be really hard for Ottawa to get past us.

The Greyhounds wrapped up their round-robin play later in the day with a 4:00 p.m. matchup against the Ottawa 67’s, while the Express were set to face the Thunder Bay Kings at 6:00 p.m.

The Soo U15 Greyhounds rose to the occasion in their final round robin game of the 2026 All-Ontario U15AAA Championships, earning a decisive 5-2 victory over the Ottawa Jr. 67’s on Saturday afternoon in Thunder Bay.

Entering the 4:00 p.m. matchup, the Greyhounds knew that a win or tie would secure their place in the semi-finals—and after a slow start, they delivered in dominant fashion.

Ottawa struck early in the first period, opening the scoring at 2:48 as Tristan Lafoley found the back of the net with an assist from Caleb Lang to make it 1-0. The Jr. 67’s extended their lead at 5:03, when William Holbrook scored, assisted by Kohen Del Rio, giving Ottawa a 2-0 advantage.

The Greyhounds responded before the end of the period. At 14:33, Benjamin Campbell cut the deficit to 2-1, finishing a play set up by Barrett McCabe and Matti Lappalainen to shift momentum heading into the intermission.

The Soo carried that energy into the second period and quickly took control of the game. At 11:41, Gavyn Nevers tied the game 2-2, converting on a setup from Matti Lappalainen. Just 38 seconds later at 12:19, Haydon Eby gave the Greyhounds their first lead of the game, with assists coming from Jasper Jarratt and Gregory Beckerson.

The Greyhounds kept pushing, extending their lead to 4-2 at 14:34 when Hayden Brason-Doan scored off a feed from Jeremy Jarratt.

In the third period, the Soo put the game out of reach. At 11:41, Matti Lappalainen added an insurance marker, assisted by Benjamin Campbell, sealing the 5-2 victory.

Ben Clayton got the start in goal for the Greyhounds, while Justin Saulnier tended the net for Ottawa.

Greyhound defenseman Thomas UBaldi told Saultsports that “it was extremely important as it was a Do or Die game for our team. It means a lot as all the hard work paid off and we gave ourselves a chance to be successful. Our consistent play kept us in the game. We were down two pretty quickly but we stuck to our game plan, stayed positive and made sure each line put in their 100% effort when they were out there.”

Get some food, get some rest, get up and get focused for our games. One game at a time, keeping the effort going that you saw today from us.

With the win, the Greyhounds officially punched their ticket to the semi-finals, where they will meet the York Simcoe Express on Sunday, April 12th at 12:30 p.m. The matchup promises to be a thrilling rematch after the two teams battled to a 5-5 draw earlier in the day.