Steelhawks Suffer Setback in Overtime Loss

The Whitby Steelhawks clawed back to 1-1 on this young season just a week ago with a win over the Paris RiverWolves. On their home floor this past weekend, the Steelhawks lost a close 14-13 overtime final to the defending champion Brampton Express and will look to get back to winning ways after the holiday break. A pre-season trade with the Oshawa Express brought Ryan Schuetzkowksi to Whitby and he gained his first start in net on Saturday.

The Express jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead before Owen Orpana notched two in a thirty-second span to close the gap to the visitors. Orpana scored another in the final minute of the first quarter as Brampton took a 5-3 lead to the break.

Orpana added another to start the second quarter to keep the Steelhawks within striking distance. The teams traded goals in that quarter but three straight for the home side gave them the first lead of the game at 8-7 going into halftime.

-Photo courtesy of Kaylen Lomas, Dreamshot Media

The teams came out of intermission and between them, only scored four times in the third quarter (three for Brampton).  Orpana featured again for the home side with five seconds remaining on the clock, and the scoreboard showed 10-9 for the Express entering the final 15 minutes of play.

-Photo courtesy of Kaylen Lomas, Dreamshot Media

The teams each scored on runs in the fourth quarter, with Whitby opening up a 12-10 lead in the first three minutes. The Steelhawks had a slim one-goal lead with 2:40 on the clock before Jeremy Searle for the Express scored a short-handed in the last 20 seconds to knot the game at 13-13. The visitors would spoil the day for Whitby as Pent Eistrat with his second goal of the game, secured the win for Brampton, improving their record to 2-1 and dropping the Steelhawks to 1-2.

Next up for Whitby is a road trip on Saturday January 3, 2026, at 1:30 p.m. to meet the Toronto Monarchs (1-2) at the Toronto Rock Athletic Centre.