U16 crosstown classic
It was an old school type of game complete with body checks that rattled the boards and open ice hits that were on the border line. And fittingly perhaps, Tuesday’s under 16 crosstown showdown between the Windsor Jr. Spitfires and Sun County Panthers at Central Park Athletics ended in a 1-1 draw.
There would be no loser on this night.
After a scoreless opening stanza it was Windsor which struck first as Nathan Mariuz scored his eighth goal of the ’25-26 Minor Hockey Alliance of Ontario regular season. Ryder Cheswick would tie it up for Sun County midway through the third period.
Both goalies — Holten McPhedran of the Jr. Spitfires and Bredan Bullock of the Panthers — made timely stops in the testy contest that totalled 11 penalties. In all, Windsor had better chances than the visitors from Sun County but goal posts and unlucky bounces kept the Jr. Spitfires from scoring more than the one goal.
To be sure, Windsor head coach Matthew Zuccato liked the compete level of his team.
“Loved our energy all game,” Zuccato relayed to Hockey News Windsor. “We knew it could come down to a bounce or two. We hit four or five posts.”
Zuccato added that he thought McPhedran “was great in net and made the save when called upon. Meanwhile, I think if we capitalized earlier on our chances it is a different outcome. That’s hockey though and we know if we can bring that same energy every game we will have a better result.”
Both teams remain in the middle of the 11 member, U16 Alliance Hockey standings. Sun County has 16 points from a record of 7-5-2 while Windsor has 15 points by way of a 6-5-3 mark.
AGELESS SCOUT MIKE SADLER WAS WATCHING: A number of Ontario Hockey League scouts took in the hotly contested match between the Jr. Spitfires and the Panthers. Among the scouts spotted was Mike Sadler of the Kitchener Rangers. Sadler, who is the Methuselah of OHL scouts, has had his eyes trained on draft eligible players since 1984. A resident of the Essex County community of Cottam, Sadler has scouted for OHL Central Scouting, the Peterborough Petes, the Plymouth Whalers (now Flint Firebirds) and Kitchener.
