Admirals extend winning streak to three games with 4-2 win over Hurricanes

September 25, 2025 · 0 Comments

By Jim Stewart

Caledon’s Junior A hockey club is on a heater.

The vastly-improved Admirals navigated successfully through the treacherous waters of their mid-September schedule to garner three wins and a tie in their last five games.

On Sunday afternoon, the Admirals defeated the Newmarket Hurricanes 4-2 at the Mayfield Recreation Centre. William Divitjos led the way with two goals, including a short-handed marker to open the scoring. Head Coach Joe Washkurak praised Divitijos’s effort and offered reasons for his team’s solid performance versus the 10th-best team in the OJHL Power Rankings.

“Willy went out and played a great game and used his speed. His short-handed goal was massive and he scored two big goals for us, including the game-winner. As a team, we played our best game of the season. The guys were working hard and digging. We outworked them—plain and simple. We beat an older and well-coached team. Our guys dug in.”

Divitjos’s shortie at 8:08 into the first period staked the home side to a 1-0 lead, but Newmarket tallied the tying goal when Nathan Phillips fired the equalizer past Calem Yorke. With 1:21 left in the first frame, Nolan Keeler set up Cam Lang’s first of the season to restore Caledon’s one-goal lead. It was Keeler’s team-leading 9th assist.

The Hurricanes scored the only goal of the second period when Nate Brentnell tied it up 2-2 at 13:13.

Caledon fired thirteen shots in the final frame and two beat Newmarket netminder Max Grovestine. Divitjos’s second of the game proved to be the game-winner and Deacon King’s sixth of the season provided breathing room for the Admirals with 2:21 left in the contest.

Yorke stopped 32 of 34 shots to earn the W and lowered his GAA to 2.66.

Coach Washkurak praised his starting goalie’s performance versus the Hurricanes: “He’s played fantastic during our winning streak. Calem’s been our best player.”

The win over the former Toronto Junior Canadiens ended years of frustration for the Admirals. Until Sunday’s win, Caledon had lost all seven games to JRC over the last five seasons.

On Saturday, Caledon defeated the Chargers in Mississauga 3-2 in an OT thriller. During the extra period, Curtis Freeman notched his sixth of the season on the power play when he finished a feed from Nolan Keeler and beat Chargers’ goaltender Michael Tamburro.

Yorke blocked 50 of 52 shots he faced at the Port Credit Memorial Arena, including all 27 in the opening period, to ensure the road win. Coach Washkurak was critical of his team’s effort in Mississauga, but offered more superlatives to assess his goaltender’s heroics versus the Chargers.

“On Saturday, we weren’t at our best in Mississauga, but Calem played out of his mind to win the game for us.”

Owen Meli’s power play goal with 1:57 left to play in regulation secured the tie and forced OT—setting the stage for Freeman’s heroics. Clarence Allain fired the other Caledon goal with 3:23 remaining in the second period to tie the game 1-1.

The Admirals’ three-game winning streak started at the Gale Centre in Niagara Falls at the Governors’ Showcase on Wednesday. Curtis Freeman’s four-point performance paced Caledon’s 6-3 victory over Cobourg.

After Cougars’ forward Jack Foley opened the scoring at 1:47 to give Cobourg an early lead, the Admirals responded with two goals to take a 2-1 lead. Deacon King’s power play goal at 3:17 tied the game and Xavier Rowe put the Caledon juniors ahead at 9:39. The last-place Cougars rallied with two second period goals by Zach Gardner and Wyatt Gregory, but Nolan Keeler tied it 3-3 and Freeman provided the go-ahead goal with 3:22 left in the middle frame.

Freeman scored shorthanded at 3:45 into the third period to stretch Caledon’s lead to 5-3. Jack Fang closed the scoring at 7:37 to provide the Admirals’ three-goal margin of victory.

Although the Admirals dropped their opening game at the Showcase 6-2 to the fifth-ranked Stouffville Spirit on Monday, the line of Freeman, Keeler, and Lang accumulated six points.

Caledon drove into Collingwood last Friday and competed effectively in one of the most challenging arenas in the league.

The Admirals boarded the bus back to Peel with a 3-3 tie and a hard-fought point secured due to Deacon King’s goal with eight minutes left in the third period versus the seventh-ranked Blues.

Comparing Seasons

What a difference a season makes for The Fleet!

In 2024-25, the inexperienced Admirals struggled out of the gate and were mired in twelfth place in the OJHL West. They were 1-7-0-0 after eight games and outscored 52-14.

Flash-forward to 2025-26 and Caledon holds down sixth place in the West Conference with a 3-2-1-2 record and a .563 winning percentage. They have three players—Nolan Keeler (3G and 9A), Curtis Freeman (6G and 5A), and Deacon King (6G and 5A)—ranked 9th, 10th, and 11th, respectively, in the OJHL scoring race.

With all these improvements, Coach Washkurak summarized his team’s excellent week: “I’m happy for the kids and the organization.”

The Admirals’ next home game is Thursday, October 2 when they host the King Rebellion (4-2-0-0). Puck drop at the Mayfield Recreation Centre is 7.30 p.m.