The St. John’s Junior Caps increased their winning streak to six games with a 5-4 win over the Conception Bay North Junior Stars on November 29th and a 3-2 win over the Junior Renegades on November 30th.
It was a back-and-forth battle in the Stars game. Both sides swapped leads, scoring two goals each in the first. The game was tied at three a piece at the end of the second period. The Junior Stars edged the Junior Caps early in the third period with a slim 4-3 lead before the Junior Caps, Sean Brown tied the game, and Auston Bryan added an insurance marker to win the game 5-4. Luke Power scored two goals in the contest, followed by Brown, who had a goal and an assist, with Justin Hepditch and Mason Dawe both adding two assists.
Steve Callahan, Head Coach of the Jr Caps, said his team had a slow start but demonstrated good energy from all four lines, allowing them to stay the course, tie, and eventually pull out with a win in the third.
“Auston Bryan, who lives in the Bay Roberts area, was pretty excited to give us the go-ahead and winning goal in the third. Our fourth line was incredible all night, notably Hepditch, Noah Smith, and Luke Power. Luke had his feet moving. He was using his big size and was engaged, winning second battles on pucks, and he got rewarded.”
The game was the second regular season against the Junior Stars and is split now with one each by both sides. The following two games will happen after the Christmas break.
Callahan said they are not a team to take lightly.
“They are fast and speedy. In our first game, they scored six against us. This time, we were able to score five on them. Our offence is a bit more depth-oriented, but they've got some big-time scorers there, including Alex Crane, Nickolas Crosbie, and Damian Laundry. These are three potent offensive players in our league, and they can stretch out that puck, and once they get going, if you are not on your game, you will unfortunately have to play catch-up.”
In the Junior Caps game against the Renegades, Noah Avery has earned himself a new nickname, Mr. Overtime. The Junior Caps made their presence known early when Andrew Veitch scored the opening goal for the Junior Caps just 24 seconds into the first. Charles Walsh, eight minutes later, increased their lead by two. In the second period, the Renegades Dylan Dawe and Connor Molloy tied the game at 2-2, which extended to overtime, where Avery scored on a breakaway to win for the Junior Caps 3-2. It was Avery's fourth goal this season and second overtime goal. Walsh led the scoring with one goal and an assist, followed by Andy Knight who added two assists and Veitch and Avery with single markers.
Callahan said the addition of Avery to the junior caps aimed to restore Avery and Andy Knight's success at the U18 level.
“We started overtime with those two and returned with Jordan Winter and Andrew Vietch. But right away, Andy found Nolan off a good play from Charles Walsh. Nolan has great speed and great offensive abilities. So that was a big win for us.”
The Junior Caps had Evan Martin in goal for Friday's game and Jack Barrington, who played Saturday. The team also picked up Scott Kirby, who was released from the Amherst Ramblers. The team also changed its leadership, making Andrew Veitch assistant captain to replace the injured Declan Barron.
The junior caps are winding down the first half of their 2024/25 season. They will have some time off before their next game against the Paradise Junior Warriors on December 14th and their last home game before Christmas on December 20th versus the Avalon Junior Celtics. Game time is 7 pm.
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