PJHL Roundup: Applejacks top Braves in OT
- Lee Griffi
- Sep 24
- 3 min read
By Lee Griffi
Wellesley won its second-straight Doherty Division game thanks to a 3-2 overtime victory in Tavistock on Friday night.
Kian Harron scored the game-winner two minutes and 40 seconds into the extra period, his first of the season, on a setup from Spencer Davidson and Jake L’Heuruex. The Braves had a 2-1 lead late in the second period on goals from Carter Otto and Even Palubeski before Tyler Chadwick tied it up with 30 seconds left in the frame.
Tavistock general manager Brent Lange said Wellesley is a quality team, but the result could have easily been different.
“We hit some posts and missed an opportunity in overtime to put it away. They turned around and scored a nice goal to win on a three-on-two rush. I said after the game I’d like to play them again in a couple of weeks or a month when we have our whole lineup hopefully together.”
The Braves have allowed just three goals against in the first three games of the season, something Lange admitted is a major improvement.
“Blake Richard (Richy) and Andrew Torchia (Torch) have played great between the pipes. Richy has been a rock as advertised and that is why we brought him in for this season and next. Torch played very good as well for his first-ever junior game last weekend. I know he would want the first two goals he let in the other weekend back. Both were weird flutter pucks that banked off players and bounced onto Paris players’ sticks or right beside them for a tap in. But he held the fort the rest of the way and did great.”
Lange also credited solid team defence for the team’s start, including all players sacrificing their bodies to help.
“A massive credit to our entire lineup. I don’t have the exact number of blocked shots in front of me, but I’d think 30-40 or more shots have been blocked in the first three games. Ryan McKellar, Marc Dionne and Carson Bernhardt are usually blocking three to five or more shots a game each, along with all our other players who also have blocked a bunch.”
Discipline is another area where Tavistock needs to improve on to contend this season, and so far, they have the fewest penalties in the Doherty Division.
“This group is a pretty close bunch already, so that helps to keep guys in check and held accountable. If they take a bad penalty, they will hear about it,” Lange said.
Thirteen players have tallied at least one point to date, something Lange said means each line is making a solid contribution.
“We love the balanced attack and we have four lines that contribute in different ways and give us four different looks. We will have good depth up front and on the back end this year. I’m excited to keep going and see where we will be in a month or two from now, but we also know our division will be good and tight, and we cannot take a night off or we will get burned.”
The Braves don’t have their full lineup iced yet, thanks to some early season injuries, but local defenceman Keaton Bartlett is expected back within two weeks.
“That will be a huge boost to our backend and take some of the load off a couple guys back there that have logged 25 plus minutes or more a game. We have a couple of forwards that should be back soon as well. It’s only September and nothing is won in September. So, one game at a time,” he added.
Wellesley won its third-straight game in a row on home ice Saturday, a 7-3 drubbing over Woodstock. Ian Speiran led the Applejacks with three goals while Lincoln Walsh added a pair. Wellesley led 3-2 after 20 minutes and 4-2 after 40.
New Hamburg earned its first win of the season with a dominating 5-0 win on home ice in front of 350 fans for its home opener. Jayden Fischer led the attack with two goals and an assist with Kayden Livingston, Owen Bruder and Jayden Jacobs adding two points apiece. Deklan Jermol stopped all 32 shots he faced to earn the shutout.
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