{"id":37483,"date":"2026-01-15T13:43:22","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T18:43:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=37483"},"modified":"2026-01-15T13:43:39","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T18:43:39","slug":"mississauga-hurricanes-edge-central-york-panthers-4-3-in-entertaining-u22-elite-tilt-at-sarc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/mississauga-hurricanes-edge-central-york-panthers-4-3-in-entertaining-u22-elite-tilt-at-sarc\/","title":{"rendered":"Mississauga Hurricanes edge Central York Panthers 4-3 in entertaining U22 Elite tilt at SARC"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

All the elements were in place for a riveting Junior Panthers\u2019 victory on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Demi Lazarou, Catelyn Clark, and Elizabeth Janovski tallied highlight reel goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leading scorer Annabella Van Berkel dished out three assists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Claire Hicks turned in a solid 33-save performance between the pipes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With five minutes left on the clock, their net empty, and trailing 3-2, the Junior Panthers executed a whiteboard play drawn up by the coaching staff when Janovski fired the tying goal ten seconds into the urgent power play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the Mississauga Hurricanes\u2019 Maria Mazi ruined that good vibe by scoring the game winner with 2:44 left in the third period to edge Central York 4-3 in OWHA U22 Elite action at SARC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Janovski, a rugged veteran leader and tireless forechecker, described her game-tying goal at 4:53 after the gutsy Panthers\u2019 coaching staff took their timeout trailing by a goal and pulled Hicks for an extra attacker with 5:03 left in the final frame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe had to capitalize in that situation. In our pre-game, we made it a focus to stay positive for the whole game. That kind of attitude brought us the tying goal. I decided to stay off to the side of the net away from the puck. I got lucky with a great pass and I was able to go short side.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Janovski\u2019s sixth of the season finished a fine passing play with Van Berkel and Abby Pak. The dramatic goal by the home side appeared to be a turning point in a battle between two Top Five U22 Elite Division teams. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the Hurricanes deflated the elation at SARC two minutes later when Mazi barreled in off the right wing and ripped a backhand shot that handcuffed Hicks and restored the visitors\u2019 lead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Janovski attributed the disappointing defeat not so much to what the Hurricanes did, but what her team didn\u2019t do: \u201cWe had a lot of good chances to capitalize. We needed to bear down and get this win by finishing our chances.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Panthers finished a scoring chance eight minutes into the game when Demi Lazarou lit the lamp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The natural goal scorer with the lightning-fast release was back in the lineup after spending six weeks on the Injured List.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Janovski described the importance of Lazarou\u2019s return and her first period goal that gave Central York a 1-0 lead: \u201cIt was great to have her back. It\u2019s her first home game after playing for us on Sunday [in Waterloo]. When she scored early in the game, it set the tone for us. She really knows her way around a puck and knows how to score.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indeed, Lazarou\u2019s scoring touch was on full display at 7:38. She converted a perfect pass on her tape from Ashley Minor by rifling a wrist shot from between the circles \u2013 high blocker side past Hurricanes\u2019 netminder Kalia Pharand and into the back of the net.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The red-clad Panthers held their precarious 1-0 lead for almost 20 minutes due to Hicks\u2019s goaltending heroics\u2014especially during the second period when she blocked 18 of the 19 shots she faced. The only shot to elude the athletic netminder in the middle frame was a deflection by Hurricane forward Keira Owen whose deft tip of Sophia Fabro\u2019s pass dramatically altered the puck\u2019s direction. It flipped over Hicks\u2019s shoulder and settled into the back of the net at 13:19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seven minutes into the third period, Panthers\u2019 Captain Kiera Johnson was assessed a holding penalty and the visitors took advantage almost immediately. Eleven seconds into the Mississauga power play, Taia MacDonald fired a wrist shot just inside the left faceoff circle that beat Hicks high blocker side to give the Hurricanes their first lead of the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seventy-six seconds later, Central York got the equalizer when Catelyn Clark crept in from the blue line and fired a wrist shot just above the circle that beat Pharand cleanly high glove side. Clark\u2019s tying goal instigated a celebratory \u201cPanther Pile\u201d after the steady defender scored her second in as many games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Janovski complimented her teammate\u2019s mid-period marker: \u201cIt was an amazing shot. She scored her first Junior goal last Sunday and she got another one tonight. We jumped up at the bench\u2014we were so happy for her. It was a big goal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alas, the Hurricanes\u2019 power play clicked again less than two minutes after Clark\u2019s goal. With Ellie Lewington in the box for the second time in the period, it took Mississauga only 10 seconds to score.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Olivia Aquino banged home a rebound on the left edge of the crease past Hicks to stake the visitors to a 3-2 lead\u2014setting the table for the dramatic exchange of goals in the final five minutes of play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fifth-place Junior Panthers (22-7-1-2) will look to get back in the win column when they host the 15th-place Bluewater Hawks (13-14-2-1) on Sunday, January 18.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Puck drop at SARC will be 1:25 p.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Jim Stewart<\/strong><\/p>\n\r\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

All the elements were in place for a riveting Junior Panthers\u2019 victory on Wednesday night. Demi Lazarou, Catelyn Clark, and Elizabeth Janovski tallied highlight reel goals. Leading scorer Annabella Van Berkel dished out three assists. Claire Hicks turned in a solid 33-save performance between the pipes. With five minutes left on the clock, their net […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[24,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-sports","category-sports"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-9Kz","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-09 05:47:32","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37483","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37483"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37483\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37484,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37483\/revisions\/37484"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}