Support Local Hockey: Junior Hockey Rundown – Sept.29/26

By: Brock Ormond / InQuinte.ca

TRENTON GOLDEN HAWKS

SATURDAY

After an impressive win over their arch-rivals Friday night, the early season Trenton Golden Hawks’ road woes continued in Stouffville Saturday night.

The Spirit blew five second period goals past the Hawks en route to an 8-5 victory on Saturday night.

The home side jumped out to a 2-0 advantage in the first before the Hawks clawed back.

Coming off a four-point night versus Wellington the previous night, Beckett Ewart buried his team-leading fourth of the season before Charlie Gage tapped in a Musclow pass off the rush to tie the score.

Stouffville re-established their lead and then some in the second, pulling ahead 7-3 on a pair of goals from Christian Armstrong and one each from Cale Williams, Xavier Rowe and Clarence Allain, sandwiching a Ryan Chamberlain marker.

Trenton’s netminders changed from Hayden Jeffery to Nolan Nicoll in the third and the Hawks scored twice, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the deficit.

Kaiden Harmon finished off a three-way passing play with Musclow and Ethan Brassard and Ryan Chamberlain found the net for a second time in the frame.

Chamberlain (two goals), Harmon (one goal, two assists), Brassard (four assists), Musclow (two assists) and Liam Fisher (one helper) factored into the scoring for the Hawks in the defeat as Trenton dropped to 2-4-0-0 on the season.

SUNDAY

Three goals in quick succession spanning about a minute-and-a-half in the second period did the damage for the Trenton Golden Hawks as they silenced the Toronto Warriors for the second time in as many games head-to-head.

Nolan Nicoll posted his first win and shutout as a Hawk in a 4-0 win at Scotiabank Pond on Sunday, the Hawks second win by that score in the same week.

The Hawks outshot Toronto 10-4 in the first but couldn’t get one past Bogdan Bogomolov.

Trenton would break out in the second with a whopping 29 shots and first struck just over six minutes into the frame.

Beckett Ewart’s second effort off a blocked shot resulted in the opening goal, his fifth of the year, followed by two in 19 seconds from Ethan Brassard and Kaiden Harmon, each with their third of the season to cruise into the third.

The Hawks put the game away with an Evan Norris marker at 8:07 of the final period, making their three-in-three weekend a winning one.

Kale Mace posted two assists to add to his team-leading point total of 13, with Hunter Spicher (first point as a Hawk), Niko Krmpotic, Ryan Chamberlain, Mason Musclow, Sterling Poff and Owen Rivers (last two with their first OJHL points) adding one helper each.

Trenton outshot Toronto 50-16 to improve to 3-4-0-0 ahead of a quieter week before another rematch with the Warriors at the Dunc at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

BATTLE OF QUINTE ROUND #1 (FRIDAY)

A hungry Trenton Golden Hawks group proved to be an intimidating force against the shorthanded Wellington Dukes.

New defenceman Niko Krmpotic fired home his second and third powerplay goals in two games as a Hawk as Trenton broke away with three unanswered third goals in a 6-2 victory on Friday night at ‘The Hangar in Round 1 of the 2026-27 edition of the Battle of Quinte.

A fast start for the Hawks was sparked by Kaiden Harmon and Ryan Chamberlain, who linked up for the opening goal 41 seconds into the night.

Harmon, a former Cobourg Cougar, came in on the right wing and fed Chamberlain for a tap in through Dryden Riley to get the Hawks faithful loud early.

Trenton imposed its will physically in the opening frame, with one big highlight being a heavy Ryan Foley check on Blake Berthiaume near the benches.

Krmpotic buried a one-timer short-side on Riley after being set up by Beckett Ewart and Liam Fisher to increase the Trenton lead to 2-0 before the first period buzzer.

The red-hot Landon Marleau continued his strong start to the year by scoring his eighth of the season on a sharp wrist shot that eluded Hayden Jeffery off a drop pass from Zach Mascard.

Back in the lineup after missing the last few, Gavin Godick added the second assist as both Marleau and Mascard extended their season-opening point streaks to eight.

The Hawks restored the two-goal advantage on another late-period tally and another Harmon cross-seam feed, this time to Ewart for his third of the year, with Nathan McHattie picking up the second assist.

Wellington got the start it was looking for in the third as Kasen Beitz, picked up in an offseason trade with the Georgetown Raiders, potted his first of the season on a long shot from the top of the Trenton zone courtesy of help from Riley Misa and Oliver Coyle.

It appeared that Quinte Red Devils graduate Owen Rivers came through with a timely goal for his first junior marker almost midway through, but the officials washed it out after a lengthy review, leaving the door open just a crack for Wellington.

That door was shut a little tighter moments later when Kale Mace jammed home a loose puck in front of Riley for his third of the year from McHattie and Ewart and the Hawks cruised from there.

Krmpotic beat Riley for his second of the night, before Mason Musclow chased the Dukes starter three minutes later for backup AP Nathan Ferriss to close out the scoring.

Jeffery made 24 saves for Trenton while Riley (27 saves) and Ferriss (1 stop) split the net for Wellington, missing forwards Jayden Levesque, Jordan Mayo, Cooper Woron and Mike Albert and blueliners Brandon Mann and Jacob Vellucci.

The Hawks improve to 2-3-0-0 on the season, while the Dukes drop to 5-2-0-1 on the campaign.

Trenton heads to Stouffville Saturday night for a 7:30 p.m. puck drop during its three-game weekend, while the Dukes are idle again until next Friday with a return home to the Duke Dome for a matchup with the St. Michael’s Buzzers to begin October at 7:30 p.m.

PICTON PIRATES

The Picton Pirates return home was a dramatic one led by a returning forward.

Isaiah More scored both goals, including the overtime winner, in the Pirates home opener victory, 2-1 over the Lakefield Chiefs.

Ty Mulder registered a pair of assists, Joey Coates added one and Cohen Bedore made 40 saves in an outstanding performance.

The win was Picton’s first of the season in three tries.

SATURDAY

The Pirates went on the road and couldn’t recapture the magic against a stiff test in the Frankford Huskies.

Joey Coates had a goal and two assists for Picton, while Gerrit Kempers notched a goal and a helper and Ben Smith chipped in with one marker.
Nick Parodo and Cohen Bedore each saw time in net.