Bowmanville Eagles Fly Again

Clarington Eagles vs. Uxbridge Bruins: September 18, 2025

The Clarington Eagles returned home Thursday night for their home opener in front of 274 fans. The team sported a brand-new look, unveiling a third jersey that brought back the tradition of the old Bowmanville Eagles logo. The new jerseys looked sharp, and everyone was hoping that the old saying, “when you look good, you play good,” would hold true.

The Eagles’ captains this season are Braydon Hicks (A), Ethan Girard (A), Charlie Vanhaverbeke (A), and Nolan Matheson, who is returning for his second straight season as team captain in his final year.

Before the game, everyone in the crowd got a special surprise: an up-and-coming singer, 11-year-old Lourdes Alomar. She comes from a long line of talented individuals in her family and absolutely knocked it out of the park singing the national anthem. This young lady is going places! Please check out her musical journey on social media; you will not be disappointed.

Game Summary

Now, onto the game itself. The Eagles found themselves shorthanded just 50 seconds in when Charlie Vanhaverbeke took a penalty for holding. However, the Bruins couldn’t convert on the power play, and there weren’t many scoring chances for either side in the first period. The one big chance came late for the Eagles as they approached the final minute of play. Brock Mathieson led an odd-man rush, but his shot was blocked and taken away by defenseman Jordan Bonner. Both teams headed to the dressing room tied 0-0.

The second period didn’t take long to get the first goal of the game, as Colin Glecoff of the Bruins scored at 1:37. The Eagles then took back-to-back penalties, one of which was a four-minute major for tripping, giving the Bruins a tremendous chance to get an insurance goal. But the Eagles’ penalty kill held tough and killed it off.
After serving his penalty, Blake Peters-Davey took over the momentum of the game. He came out of the box and set up a great chance that was deflected wide. Then, seconds later, with the puck still in the Bruins’ zone, he delivered one of the biggest hits of the period. How crucial was that hit? Braydon Hicks, from the slot area, snapped a shot past Bruins’ goaltender Robby Dimaria for the Eagles’ first goal on home ice this season! The Eagles came close to taking the lead with a few goal-mouth scrambles, but the two teams skated to the dressing room tied at 1-1.

Both teams came out hungry in the third, looking to get that ever-important go-ahead goal. The Eagles’ rookie forward Caeden Allenby had a great chance with a shot blocker-side on Dimaria, and it almost squeezed in, but Dimaria was able to hold onto it. With time winding down, the Bruins had two glorious opportunities to take back the lead by Nolan Winter and Colin Glecoff, but the right pad of Eagles’ goaltender Nate Gillis had other plans, saving the Eagles and keeping the game all tied up heading into overtime.

It was a seven-minute sudden-death overtime, and the Eagles had a perfect opportunity to win it right in the slot area but couldn’t convert. They were then called for a bench minor for having too many players on the ice. This turned out to be the death knell of the contest, as a team finally scored on their power play opportunity. It was Evan Gilbert, sitting in front of the net, who put home the loose puck to send the Bruins and their fans home happy.

It was a deflating loss for the Eagles, who did pick up one point in the contest and must now turn the page and prepare for a Sunday matinee game against the Georgina Ice at 1:25 p.m. puck drop.

Come fly with your Clarington Eagles!

Mike Jackman