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Freeman’s five-point performance powers ascendant Admirals to 7-6 win over Patriots

October 16, 2025   ·   0 Comments

Caledon’s Lang-Freeman-Keeler line scores three goals in 77 secondsand finishes with 13 points

By Jim Stewart

The Caledon Admirals skated to a wildly-entertaining 7-6 victory over the third-place Toronto Patriots at Mayfield Recreation Centre on Thursday night.

Remarkably, all 13 goals were scored at even strength and the LFK Line—comprised of Cam Lang, Curtis Freeman, and Nolan Keeler – accrued thirteen points versus the Patriots led by Freeman’s five-point performance. 

Caledon Head Coach Joe Washkurak praised his top line’s production on Thursday night, but also voiced his displeasure about his squad almost squandering a four-goal lead.

“Without those guys, we wouldn’t have won. Freeman had five and the line played dynamite offensively. The win was huge for us. The Patriots have a really good team. It was disappointing that we were up 5-1 and they made it closer than it had to be. We needed to play better away from the puck. It was a cheap lesson for them tonight about the need to play better defense. We learned the lesson and still got the win. It would have been way worse if we lost that game in the final minutes.”

Although Coach Washkurak expressed his concerns about his team’s defensive lapses against Toronto, he also acknowledged the difficulty of the Admirals’ schedule thus far and was pleased with their eighth place standing in a very competitive division.

“We’ve had a tough schedule over the first thirteen games and we’re 6-4-1-2. The West Division is really tight. The Top Six guys are carrying the load and the Bottom Six are playing their role really well. I really like our team. This team won eleven games all last season and we have six already. We’ve won two of our last three, too, but we have to tighten up defensively.”

An early defensive lapse allowed Patriots’ leading scorer Noah Lodeon to notch his 11th of the season 19 seconds into the contest to give Toronto a 1-0 lead, but the Admirals stormed back with five consecutive goals in response to the visitors’ early incursion.

The comeback was catalyzed by Caledon’s LFK Line which struck with one second left on the clock in the first period and pumped in two goals in 1:16 to open the second period to shock and awe the Patriots. 

Lang—with helpers from Keeler and Freeman—tied the game at 19:59.

Keeler’s goal at 1:01 and Lang’s second goal of the game at 1:16 of the second period staked Caledon to a 3-1 lead. Coach Washkurak pointed to Lang’s return to the team after a stint in the BCHL as a significant factor in the team’s recent success.

“He’s got great leadership abilities. He’s also got three goals in his last two games. The younger players love his presence in the room. We didn’t have to make a trade to get him and he’s had such a big impact. Having Cameron back has been a big plus.”

Lang’s high-flying LFK Line accrued nine points collectively during their three-goal outburst in 77 seconds.

The Admirals struck two more times in the middle frame when Gabriel Carvalho and Xavier Rowe scored 1:14 apart to move the home side into a seemingly comfortable 5-1 lead midway through the period. 

However, the Patriots—ranked #5 in last week’s OJHL Power Rankings—received a pair of unassisted goals by Max Kimelman and Lucas Marshall to close the gap to 5-3 by the five-minute mark of the third period. 

Freeman, with helpers from Lang and Jonah Henderson, got one of those goals back 22 seconds after Marshall’s marker at 4:17 to restore Caledon’s three-goal lead.

Colton Woods responded to Freeman’s goal by scoring two goals in a row to narrow Toronto’s deficit to 6-5, but Freeman fired his eighth of the season at 14:02 to give the home side a 7-5 lead which steadied the Admirals’ ship, and created some breathing space.

Keeler earned his team-leading 13th assist on Freeman’s game-winning goal which stood up as the clincher after Patriots’ forward Tate Collins narrowed the home side’s lead to 7-6 with 4:13 left on the clock. 

Caledon goaltender James Meredith turned in a 40-save performance versus the Patriots.

Coach Washkurak complimented his busy goaltender’s stellar play in the opening 20 minutes of play: “Even though he gave up six, James earned the win and saved us in the first period when he faced 19 shots and stopped 18.”

The dramatic win over the Patriots moved the Admirals into fifth place in the OJHL West Division, but a tough 7-2 setback the next night in Collingwood versus the Blues dropped Caledon into seventh place with a .577 winning percentage.

Coach Washkurak provided meaningful context about the team’s tough start at the Eddie Bush Memorial Arena on Friday night: “We killed off six penalties in the first period and Cal had an off-night in net so I had to take him out after a few goals. At one point, we had narrowed their lead to one, but they scored three in a row and it turned out to be a tough game for us after tying Collingwood earlier in the season 3-3.”

The Admirals’ next opportunity to put one in the win column is Thursday, October 16 when they host the Niagara Falls Canucks (5-9-0-0). Puck drop at the Mayfield Icebox is 7:30 p.m.

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