Bulldogs-Jr. Eagles to play in one Divisional Final.....Colts advance to Fox Final | NSJHL

Bulldogs-Jr. Eagles to play in one Divisional Final.....Colts advance to Fox Final

Posted on March 12, 2026

By Dan Boyd

Bulldogs-Jr. Eagles to play in one Divisional Final.....Colts advance to Fox Final

When the Nova Scotia Junior Hockey League Regular Season began back in mid-September, a total of 11 teams were anxious to show what they could toward establishing a winning culture within their organization. Some teams succeeded, others not so much and as a result, we are now down to five teams competing for a Nova Scotia Provincial Championship won by the Capstone Colts in 2024-25. Two more teams were eliminated in play Wednesday night and the following is a recap:

Capstone Colts 7 Windsor Oxen 4

The Colts swept the Oxen in four straight to win their Best-of-Seven Fred Fox Divisional Semi-Final 4-0. Finn Merritt scored three times to pace the Colts while Cody Garcin scored once and collected three assists for the winners.

The Colts were up 3-2 after one period despite the fact the Oxen went up 1-0 only 45 seconds into the contest as Aidan MacLeod tallied for the Oxen on a scramble in front of the net. The Colts came right back with Liam Andrews making a pass to Camden MacKenzie who shot from the point and beat Oxen goalie Graydon Mole. The Colts grabbed a 2-1 lead after Finn Merritt scored the first of his on the evening by jumping on his own rebound in front of the net. Oxen goalie Graydon Mole was then forced to leave the game with a leg injury, it was not clear as of this writing whether it was an ACL Injury. Cam Walsh then tied it at 2-2 for the Oxen on a beautiful play as he stepped around the Colts defense and put the puck between the legs of Carter Agguire. Xavier Coggins made it 3-2 Colts before the first period concluded and he streaked in close to the net and picked up the puck and beat Oxen replacement goalie Ryan LeBlanc with a shot to his immediate left. The Colts outshot the Oxen 18-16 in the opening frame.

The Colts took a 4-2 lead less than three minutes into the middle period as the Oxen made a terrible give away allowing Garcin to steal the puck and with a quick shot, the Colts were up 4-2. They did not stop there as Liam Andrews with an excellent scoring opportunity rang a shot off the goal post. Merritt with his second of the game made it 5-2 Colts by the end off the second period. Oxen outshot the Colts 12-9 in the second for a two period advantage of 28-27. Wilson Davison missed an exceptional scoring opportunity for the Oxen when he could not connect on a breakaway.

The Oxen knew they had to pick up their game in the third and they did exactly that as they stayed on top of the Colts and Nolan Fowler made it a 5-3 as the Colts defense fell asleep. The Oxen’s Reese Smith then brought the Oxen to within a single goal at 5-4 as he scored parked directly in front of the Colts net. Wilson Davison missed another great chance in the third when he missed a glorious scoring opportunity. The game was 5-4 Colts with 2:08 to play when Nolan Stevens slow roller down the ice which appeared to go for icing made a small turn at the last second and barely made it past the right goal post and the Colts had a 6-4 lead. The game’s scoring was concluded when Finn Merritt scored the third of the game to complete his hat-trick on a power-play effort. The teams were tied 12-12 in shots giving the Oxen a game advantage of 40-39. Micha Tucker and William Hartnell both assisted on a pair of goals for the Oxen while Cam Walsh also collected an assist after scoring the Oxen’s second goal.

Antigonish 5 Port Hawkesbury 0

The Jr. Bulldogs and Eskasoni Jr. Eagles will now clash for the Sid Rowe Division Championship after they pasted the Port Hakesbury Strait Pirates 5-0 in Antigonish Wednesday night. Owen Forsythe, Tully Grant and Kellen Fuller tallied in the opening frame for Antigonish while Luc Legere scored in the second on the power-play before Gavin Clarke tallied another power-play goal in the third to round out the Bulldog scoring.

Ethan Chisholm recorded his third shut-out of the series, making 19 saves. The contest was certainly spirited as a total of 130 penalty minutes were assessed, the majority in the second period when 86 of those were minutes were dished out including four misconducts, two game misconducts, 2 fighting majors and eight minors. Another 32 were assessed in the second including a double minor for spearing and two misconducts.

The Bulldogs and Eskasoni Jr. Eagles will now play to see who will advance to the Nova Scotia Junior Hockey League Championship Series but no firm schedule has been established.

The Colts meanwhile are awaiting the winner of the East Hants-South Shore series which the Lumberjacks presently lead 3-1 with Game 5 in Bridgewater Friday night at 7:00 p.m.

Bulldogs-Jr. Eagles to play in one Divisional Final.....Colts advance to Fox Final

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