Ironmen open 2025/2026 campaign with weekend split 

BY SHAWN LOUGHLIN

A sure sign that winter is now officially around the corner, the Wingham Ironmen were back on the ice over the weekend, splitting their two games for a middling start to another season.

 

On Friday night, at home in Wingham, the Ironmen fell to the Mount Forest Patriots by a score of 5-3, followed by a 6-1 win over the Kincardine Bulldogs on the road on Saturday.

 

On Friday night, the Ironmen thrilled the home fans by scoring the first two goals of the game. First, Nelson Helm found the back of the net at 2:18 of the first period, assisted by Nate Fritz and Noah Wettlaufer, then Kaeden MacDonald scored at 3:49 of the first, assisted by Dawson Dietz and Fritz again.

 

The Patriots then cut that two-goal lead in half with a Logan Burnham goal at 14:34 of the first, assisted by Charlie McKenzie. However, the Ironmen fought back with Carter Coombs scoring at 16:30, assisted by Wyatt Reinhardt and Jesse Coombs. Unfortunately for the home team, that would be the last goal it scored that night.

 

Logan Burnham scored his second goal of the game for the Patriots at 19:22 of the first, assisted by Hartley McKenzie and Will Lewis, followed by two Curtis Arnold goals in the second period: at 4:37, assisted by Teegan Middleton and Cam McNevan, and again at 6:38, assisted by McNevan again and Tyson Eurig.

 

In the third period, Jaxon Boone put the game away for the Patriots with a goal at 3:35, assisted by Jaxon Gawel and Owen Orth.
 Nick Barker earned the win for the Patriots, stopping 17 of the 20 shots he faced, while Colin Gibbings was saddled with the loss, stopping 33 of 38 shots.

 

In terms of penalties, the Patriots served 26 minutes on nine infractions, while the Ironmen sinned four times for a total of eight minutes in the penalty box.

 

In the first, Mount Forest’s Jaxon Boone was called for boarding at 12:09, followed by the Patriots’ Kohen Matthews being called for cross-checking at 1:46 of the second. Wingham’s Tyson Fischer was called for hooking at 6:16 of the second, Carter Coates, also a member of the Ironmen, was called for cross-checking at 9:16 of the second and Mason Eurig of the Patriots was called for tripping at 10:34 of the second.

 

In the third, a pair of slashing calls were made at the 2:16 mark for Mount Forest’s Mason Eurig and Wingham’s Dawson Dietz, followed by a hooking call on Wingham’s Nelson Helm at 3:04 and a cross-checking call on Mount Forest’s Kohen Matthews at 4:10.

 

At 11:54 of the third, Mount Forest’s Matthews was assessed a two-minute penalty and a 10-minute game misconduct for head contact, followed by a facemask penalty called on Mount Forest’s Hartley McKenzie at 17:52 of the third.

 

On Saturday night in Kincardine, the Ironmen opened the scoring against the Bulldogs with a Jesse Coombs goal at 15:20 of the first, assisted by affiliated player Will Bruinsma and Noah Wettlaufer.

 

The teams then exchanged goals in the second period. First, Kincardine’s Zasha Ortman scored an unassisted power play goal at 4:56 then Nelson Helm scored for the Ironmen at 17:16, assisted by Nate Fritz.

 

In the third, four goals were scored, all by the Ironmen. Jesse Coombs scored his second of the game at 5:23, assisted by Tyson Fischer and Noah Bloemberg, followed by a Dawson Dietz goal at 8:14, assisted by Kaeden MacDonald and Carter Coombs, an unassisted empty net goal by Bruinsma at 16:30 and an unassisted empty net goal by Noah Bloemberg at 18:40 to end the game.

 

James Hopper stopped 30 of the 31 shots he faced in a winning effort for the Ironmen, while Blake Beitz stopped 31 of the 35 shots he faced in a losing effort for the Bulldogs.

 

The Ironmen served 12 minutes in the penalty box on six calls, while the Bulldogs were whistled seven times for a total of 12 minutes in the box.

 

Kincardine’s Maddox Burgess was called for roughing at 9:05 of the first, followed by a hooking call on Wingham’s Wyatt Reinhardt at 12:47 of the first and a two-minute penalty, served by Wyatt Thomas, and a game misconduct for Kincardine’s Cole Lewis at 16:14 of the first.

 

In the second, Wingham’s Kaeden MacDonald was called for cross-checking at 4:01 and Noah Wettlaufer of the Ironmen was whistled for boarding at 6:57. At the 8:59 mark, Wingham’s Kai Wick and Kincardine’s Nathan Lavender were both called for roughing, followed by another roughing call for Kincardine’s Tyler Wagler at 11:11 and a slashing call on Nathan Lavender at 14:26.

 

In the third, Bryce Martin of the Bulldogs served a penalty for too many men on the ice at 3:16, Wingham’s Nelson Helm was called for slashing at 10:44 and Wingham’s James Hopper was called for roughing at 14:19. Will Bruinsma served the penalty on behalf of the goaltender.

 

This weekend, the Ironmen only have one game on the schedule and it’s on the road. They’ll face the Hanover Barons at the P&H Centre on Friday, Sept. 19. The next weekend, the Ironmen will be back at home to play the Mitchell Hawks on Friday, Sept. 26 before setting out on the road on Sunday, Sept. 28 to play the Fergus Whalers.