Lang’s clutch goals lead Admirals to 4-3 overtime victory over the Chargers in Mississauga

January 30, 2025 · 0 Comments

By Jim Stewart

Admirals’ leading scorer Cam Lang fired the tying goal in the third period and the game-winner forty-nine seconds into overtime to lead Caledon to a 4-3 comeback victory over the Chargers in Mississauga on Saturday evening.

Lang, who has 10 goals and 25 assists in 41 games in his first full season in the OJHL, described his OT winner versus the Chargers.

“It was on our first shift. We needed a good start to overtime on the road. Curtis Freeman gave me a perfect pass, I went backhand, and was able to score.”

The resident of Burlington offered insights into his team’s spirited comeback and his two-goal performance that reined in the Chargers.

“It was a good win for us. We were due for a big win after our loss to Milton at home on Thursday night. We needed a strong third period when we got down 3-2. Meli gave me a great pass, I was able to make a move, and got lucky when the puck deflected into the net.”

Lady Luck has been shining on Lang’s rapidly-improving team since mid-December.

The articulate offensive leader acknowledged the turning point and highlight of the Admirals’ season so far.

“Beating the Menace in Milton in OT in December was a big game for us. We started believing more in ourselves and started seeing that we belong in this league after struggling for the first part of the season. More than half the team played U18 last year and everyone had to adapt to junior hockey. Things began to build and, as we played more games together, we found our pace. We figured out how to win and what it took to win. We’ve been building each other up.”

The Admirals’ assist leader also noted his own improvement to help make Caledon a better offensive club.

“Personally, I’ve been scoring more to help the team and it’s been fun to find the back of the net more often than at the beginning of the season when we were having trouble as a team scoring goals.”

Lang’s heroics on Saturday night improved the Admirals’ record to 5-6-2-0 since December 10.

In our post-game interview at the Zancor Centre, he observed how winning has improved their outlook for the rest of this season and how winning now is a motivation for next year when the young team reassembles in September.

“Even though we aren’t going to make the playoffs, we’re staying motivated in our remaining games because it’s about looking past this season a little bit. We know we’ll be together next year and we’ll be a better hockey team. Right now, we’re taking it game by game and trying to improve each time.”

The incremental improvements were evident when Lang’s Admirals took to the ice at the Official Opening of the Zancor Centre in King City—the new home of the eighth-place Rebellion. The last time Caledon faced King, the Admirals were on the wrong end of a 9-4 decision. However, on Sunday afternoon, the scoreboard told a different story.

The Admirals took part in Sunday’s centre ice ceremonies at the Zancor Centre and became part of local history by competing in the first OJHL game played at the $78M state-of-the-art recreation facility.

Although the home side skated to a narrow 4-2 win over Caledon, the game revealed staying power by the Admirals who were playing their third game in four days.

The Rebellion, with a precarious hold on the final playoff spot in the OJHL West, came out firing and outshot the Admirals 20-3 in the first period. However, the stellar play of Caledon goaltender Nolan Godfrey limited King to one unassisted goal by Ryan Fairbairn at 11:49. The plucky Admirals evened the score when Eric He fired Jack Fang’s feed behind King netminder Tre Altiman with thirty-nine seconds left in the opening frame.

Rebellion defenseman Evan Hjelholt’s power play blast from the right point eluded a screened Godfrey and restored King’s one-goal lead with five seconds left in the second period. King outshot Caledon 36-8 after two periods of play, but led only 2-1 on their brand new centre ice scoreboard.

It took the inspired play of one of the Rebellion veterans to tip the scales in King’s favor on Sunday afternoon.

Power forward Marshall McCharles scored a pair of clutch third period goals to secure a much-needed victory. The Rebellion’s leading scorer, who has tallied 21 goals and 18 assists in 45 games this season, enjoyed the team’s first game at the Zancor Center, but acknowledged that King was even more motivated to win for their Head Coach Mark Joselin, who is being inducted into a nearby Sports Hall of Fame this week.

“Before the game, we did a video for the Richmond Hill Sports Hall of Fame to say thank you to our coach for all he has done for us. It was a great team activity and got us ready for our first game at the Zancor Centre. We wanted to win it for Jozy.”

McCharles’s game-winning-goal ensured the win for the Rebellion’s beloved coach and he complimented his teammate Jacob Xu for setting up the big goal at 3:10 of the third period.

“It was a nice pass from Jacob that gave me the space for the goal. I saw the left side of the net open and I was able to get a great shot away.”

McCharles’s goal was timely because Caledon forward Henry Brady scored his 12th of the season at 5:40 to narrow the margin to 3-2. It was Brady’s second goal in as many games. The rookie forward scored a go-ahead goal versus the Chargers in Mississauga the night before.

Brady and his fatigued teammates, playing their second road game in less than 36 hours, pressed the Rebellion in the waning minutes of the contest by pulling Godfrey with 2:05 during a 30-second timeout called by Admirals’ Head Coach Chris Taylor.

Tre Altiman, the 5th-ranked goaltender in the OJHL, made two game-saving stops with the Admirals pressing their man-advantage.

Rugged King forward Kyle Baston delivered the Rebellion from harm’s way by stealing the puck in his own zone and feeding McCharles in open ice behind two Caledon defenders.

McCharles’s shot from above the circles missed the net by inches, but he collected the carom off the end boards and snapped the puck into the empty cage from a challenging angle for his 21st of the season.

In an interesting parallel, King’s leading scorer McCharles led his team to victory with two clutch late-game goals on Sunday and Caledon’s leading scorer Cam Lang led his team to victory with a pair of big late-game goals on Saturday.

As McCharles goes, so go the Rebellion and as Caledon Coach Chris Taylor has maintained all season: “As Lang goes, so go the Admirals.”

Based on recent performance, it’s apparent that Cam Lang has assumed the mantle of offensive leadership for his OJHL club and the young Admirals will act as motivated spoilers for the balance of their 2024-25 schedule.