“Big Goal” Van Berkel notches 30th of the season in Junior Panthers’ 4-1 win over Waterloo

Annabella Van Berkel scored two goals and Catelyn Clark and Ellie Lewington added one each in the Junior Panthers' tidy 4-1 win over the Ravens in Waterloo on Sunday afternoon.

Central York opened the 2026 portion of its schedule with a spirited comeback win on the road featuring four unanswered goals. The victory in Waterloo improved the fifth-place club's record to 22-6-1-2 in the OWHA's 25-team Elite Division.

Five minutes into the first period, the home side opened the scoring when Emma McCoubrey beat Panthers' netminder Jamie Sanford to stake Waterloo to an early 1-0 lead. However, the steady Sanford shut the door the rest of the way—turning aside 19 of the 20 shots she faced-- to enable her team's comeback.

Van Berkel cued the comeback with her first goal of the game four minutes into the second period. The Panthers' leading scorer was set up by Abby Pak and Lily Paisley.  Pak's 14th assist of the season helped pull Central York even at 1-1.

With 2:05 remaining in the middle frame, the Junior Panthers took the lead when “Big Goal” Van Berkel's unassisted marker beat Ravens' goaltender Danica Averill.  The speedy centre's game-winning-goal was her 30th of the season.  Van Berkel's milestone marker moved her into second in the U22 Elite Division's goal-scoring race. She trails frontrunner Madeline McCullough of the Etobicoke Dolphins by only three. Van Berkel also holds down tenth place in the OWHA scoring race with 39 points in 28 games.

After Van Berkel's scoring heroics in the second period, a pair of timely goals in the final frame sealed the road victory for Central York.

Catelyn Clark's power play goal seven minutes into the third period—set up by Paisley's second assist of the game--staked the visitors to a 3-1 lead.

Ellie Lewington's unassisted empty netter with 2:16 left in the game provided the three-goal margin of victory in Waterloo.

In a game featuring playoff-seeding implications, the fifth-place Panthers will host the third-place Mississauga Hurricanes on Wednesday, January 7.  Puck drop at SARC is 7 p.m.

By Jim Stewart