Tim Ruhnke – Recorder & Times
It was the fourth one-goal game in a row for Brockville.
The Braves dropped a 3-2 decision to the Jr. Senators in Ottawa on Saturday night. That followed Brockville’s 2-1 loss at home to the Hawkesbury Hawks Friday night.
The Jr. A Braves are now winless in three after opening the Central Canada Hockey League (CCHL) regular season with three victories.
Brockville had a 2-0 lead at the end of the first period in Ottawa on Saturday. In his second game since being acquired from the Hawks, Jack Lowry scored at 4:49; it was his first goal of the year. Ryan McNally’s fourth goal of the season gave the Braves a two-goal advantage at 16:41. McNally had been named the league’s overall second star last week.
Xavier Guillemette cut the lead in half 14 seconds into the second period, and Eric Kane evened the score at 17:24. Dax Kenney won it for Ottawa in the third round of the shootout. He was named first star of the game. Second star went to Braves goaltender Oliver Li, who made 27 saves. Third star went to Josh Scully, who made 23 saves and picked up the win in net for the Jr. Sens.
An all-female officiating crew worked the Brockville-Ottawa game.
The Braves got off to a shaky start at the Memorial Centre on Friday night. Albert Genest scored a power-play goal at 7:18 to give the Hawks the lead. One of the assists went to Vital Dinis, who had just been traded from Brockville as part of the multi-player deal between the two teams.
In the lineup for the Braves Friday were former Hawks Lowry and Antoine D’Arcy, both graduating players. Brockville was outshot 16-7 in the first period.
Hawkesbury made it 2-1 on Theo Jette’s goal at 2:09 of the second. Dinis picked up his second helper of the night. Will Brauer’s first goal of the season for the Braves cut the lead in half at 15:03 of the middle frame.
Brockville pulled its goaltender with about 1:20 left in regulation but was unable to score the equalizer.
The Hawks outshot the Braves 33-24. Brett Ruddy recorded the win in net; Nate Galbraith was between the pipes for Brockville. Genest, Jette and Brauer were named first, second and third stars respectively.
A crowd of 450 was on hand at the Memorial Centre. Also in the lineup for the Braves on Friday was forward Dryden Dervish, who had been acquired from Navan in exchange for a professional development fee (PDF).
As part of the deal with the Hawks, Brockville received a PDF and a third-round pick in the 2026 draft. Also going to Hawkesbury was Braves forward Taige Soneji. The previous week, Brockville had traded Aidyn Urbach to Pembroke in exchange for a 10th-round draft pick. Urbach faced his former team when the Lumber Kings hosted the Braves last Sunday, Sept. 28.
Dinis, who racked up seven points with Brockville in its first four games of the season, scored in a shootout on Sunday to help lift the Hawks over the Canadians in Carleton Place.
Brockville (3-2-0-1) will host Navan (4-1-0-1) on Friday night in the Braves’ lone game of the Thanksgiving weekend.
Elsewhere in the CCHL, the Smiths Falls Bears improved to 4-1-1 in Kemptville on Sunday afternoon by edging the 73’s 4-3 in overtime.
Andrea Blais scored the winner at 1:24 of the extra frame. Caeden Heins, Carter Beauchesne and Tyson Parker also had goals for the Bears. Parker has 17 points and continues to lead the CCHL scoring race. Beauchesne, who is sixth with 12 points, has the league lead for rookies.
Darius Nichols, Alexis Beaulieu and Zach Venance scored for Kemptville.
Shots were even at 28. Ayo Ogini picked up the win in net for Smiths Falls. Rylan Donovan was in goal for the 73’s. Blais and Beaulieu were named first and second stars respectively. Third Star went to Max Richler, who chipped in with two assists for the Bears.
Smiths Falls had opened the weekend with a 4-2 win at home against Renfrew.
D.J. Ott scored twice for the Bears and was named first star. Beauchesne and Travis Ouellette had the other goals for the home team. Rafael Tremblay picked up the win in net for Smiths Falls.
The Bears will play a home-and-home with league-leading Rockland (6-0) on the holiday weekend. Smiths Falls hosts the opener Friday night at 7:30 before visiting the Nationals Saturday night.
The 73’s had opened this past weekend with a 2-1 loss at home to Navan on Friday. Sydney Loreto scored Kemptville’s goal. The 73’s edged the Grads 28-27 in shots; Keegan Carswell was in net for the home team.
Kemptville (2-4-1) is at Hawkesbury (3-3) on Friday night.
In the latest CJHL national Top 20 weekly rankings posted Monday morning, Rockland is third compared to sixth last week. Smiths Falls was ranked 14th last week but fell to honourable mention. The only other CCHL team listed this week is Navan (honourable mention). Cornwall was ranked 18th and Brockville received an honourable mention last week.
Original Story at Recorder.ca
