by Romano Di Franco
The Nepean Raiders welcomed the Hawkesbury Hawks for the fourth meeting of the season. Nepean came into this game having lost their fourth straight game whereas Hawkesbury came off a decisive 4-1 victory against the Brockville Braves. For the starting goalies, John Gedraitis was in second game since being activated from the team’s injured reserved list and Brett Ruddy who put up a dominating performance in the aforementioned previous game got the call in goal tonight.
Here’s a recap of the exciting game between the Hawkesbury Hawks and the Nepean Raiders on January 15, 2025, that ended in an overtime thriller,
It didn’t take long for the Raiders to draw first blood as Luka Benoit fired home his 17th of the season assisted from Nick Houben and Spencer Thompson. That would be the only goal scored in that period as even though they were outshot 13-12 by the Hawks, John Gedraitis stood tall in that first period.
The second period was pretty intense as the Raiders had a lot of grade A quality chances, three of them were from Carter Williamson. The only goal in that session came from Theodore Jette assisted from Maxime Charbonneau and Fernard Oliver Perron. Once again, it was John Gedraitits who stood tall in that second period despite being outshot 16-15 in the second.
The third period saw the Raiders score another early goal as one minute and fifty five seconds in, Mikayil Kahriman fired a one-timer that Brett Ruddy had no chance on whatsoever. Tyler Smith drew the only assist.
Nepean appeared to be in trouble as the Hawkesbury Hawks scored two quick goals from Aleksy Bandu and Jacob Skoczylas. The Raiders did not go down without a fight as with Gedraitis at the bench for an extra attacker, Spencer Thompson fired a shot from the point to help send the game into overtime.
It didn’t take long for the Hawks to respond in OT as Grant Lucas score the game-winner going in solo.
Three Stars
- Gabriel Pelchat (Hawkesbury Hawks) – Played a crucial role in the win.
- Brett Ruddy (Hawkesbury Hawks, Goaltender) – 37 saves on 40 shots, with a standout overtime performance.
- John Gedraitis (Nepean Raiders, Goaltender) – 37 saves on 41 shots, keeping his team in the game.
A closely contested battle saw stellar performances from both goaltenders and dramatic late-game heroics, with the Hawks edging out the Raiders in a nail-biting finish.
Nepean’s next game will be held on Friday, January 17th when they visit the Carleton Place Canadiens at the Carleton Place Arena Rink 1 for a 7:45PM puck drop.
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