FC Women eye big wins; Majors take a pair; Knights drafted

Gameday in 5: A look to the week ahead — and a recap of the week that was (June 25-July 2) — for London’s teams and athletes.

Easton Cowan, a Mount Brydges native, was selected in the first round (along with Knights teammate Oliver Bonk) in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft. (Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

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London Majors

At the end of a tough June, the Majors ended the month with a win — and then earned another during Canada Day weekend, eventually taking two of three games against some formidable foes.

Entering last Friday’s contest at Labatt Park on an eight-game losing skid, the Majors turned to their ace to put an end to their struggles. And Owen Boon did just that, pitching six innings of scoreless baseball — against the first-place Welland Jackfish — to lead London to a 4-0 win. He scattered four hits and racked up six strikeouts. Ahead 1-0 thanks to a sac fly by Drew Lawrence, Byron Reichstein had the big blow of the game with a two-run homer in the sixth inning. Alex Springer, in his IBL debut, tossed an impressive three scoreless inning out of the bullpen to preserve the Majors’ much-needed win. Reichstein finished with three hits, while Tommy Reyes-Cruz delivered an RBI.

The Majors then built off Friday’s win and beat the Hamilton Cardinals, 5-4, on Canada Day — again at Labatt Park. This time, though, it required coming back from down four runs. A two-run homer by Starling Joseph in the 7th inning made it 4-2. Then, RBI singles from Drew Lawrence and Myles Miller tied the contest. The Majors scored the eventual winning run on a single from Tommy Reyes-Cruz that scored pinch runner Charles Bowman in the bottom of the eighth. Jaryd Lund then shut the door in the ninth. Edisson Gonzalez, who made the start for London, hurled seven innings and allowed four runs on nine hits. He didn’t walk a batter and he struck out eight.

After winning two straight, the Majors came up short Sunday in Toronto, as the Maple Leafs dealt them an 11-5 loss at Christie Pits. Down 11-1 after seven innings, London put a dent in the deficit by scoring four runs late, but they fell far short and were unable to sweep the weekend. Anfernee Benitez got the start and allowed five runs (four earned) in five innings. He gave up nine hits and walked three — while striking out four. Skylar Janisse and Pedro De Los Santos ran into trouble in the seventh and combined to allow six runs in that inning alone. Cris Ruiz had a pair of hits for London, while Will Pollard drove in two runs.

Up next:

The Majors will look to build off a promising Canada Day weekend with another three games on the weekend ahead. Once again, two of those contests will be at home.

Fri. July 7 (7:35pm vs. Kitchener Panthers)
Sat. July 8 (7:30pm @ Guelph Royals)
Sun. July 9 (1:05pm vs. Guelph Royals)

FC London

The Women’s team had two scheduled games last week — but played only one of them, as Wednesday’s game was postponed due to the poor air quality conditions. FC London came to play when they did hit the pitch, though, winning 4-2 over Unionville Milliken SC on Sunday.

After a scoreless first half, London dominated for most of second half and built up a 4-0 lead before Unionville Milliken found the back of the net. FC London had four different goal scorers, with Charlotte Cormack, Sadie Waite, Cheyenne Bower and Julia Benati all notching goals — and within a 12-minute span. The visitors attempted a comeback late with two goals of their own, but it was too little too late.

The Men’s team, meanwhile, earned their fourth draw of the year in their most recent action, which happened Sunday, playing to a 1-1 tie against Darby FC. After a scoreless first half, Jimmy Wilcox put London ahead in the 69th minute. London’s defense held strong till late in the game when Darby scored to force the draw. 

Up next:

It’s a busy two-game week for both squads. The Women (4-4-3) will hope to continue climbing the standings with games against Burlington SC and ProStars FC on the road. The Men (1-6-4), meanwhile, will try to capture wins against BVB IA Waterloo (at home) and Burlington SC.

Women:
Wed. July 5 (7:00pm @ Burlington SC)
Sun. July 9 (7:00pm @ ProStars FC)

Men:
Wed. July 5 (9:00pm vs. BVB IA Waterloo)
Sun. July 9 (6:00pm @ Burlington SC)

London Knights

It was an exciting week for a handful of London Knights and local players who were selected in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft.

Oliver Bonk and Easton Cowan (a local Mount Brydges native) were both drafted in the first round. Bonk (Ottawa, ON) was taken 22nd overall by the Philadelphia Flyers, while Cowan went 28th to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Both enjoyed strong rookie seasons with the Knights in 2022-23. In addition to his strong defensive play, Bonk tallied 10 goals and 40 points in 67 regular season games. Cowan racked up 20 goals and 53 points in 68 regular season games — and then had a fantastic postseason, recording nine goals and 21 points in 20 contests.

Cowan’s Knights linemate Denver Barkey was chosen in the third round (95th overall), also by the Philadelphia Flyers, while Jacob Julien was selected in the fifth round (146th overall) by the Winnipeg Jets. Barkey was nearly a point-per-game player in his sophomore season with London in 2022-23, posting 22 goals and 59 points in 61 regular season games. He then tallied 24 points (11 G, 13 A) in 20 games in the playoffs to help London reach the OHL Finals.

Julien had quite the season. He started the year with the Jr. B London Nationals and, after leading the team in scoring, was signed by the Knights and began playing full-time by December. He recorded nine goals and 16 points in 40 OHL games.

A couple of Knights’ former draft picks were also chosen in last week’s NHL Draft. Kasper Halttunen (Finland) was taken 36th overall by the San Jose Sharks, while Jonathan Castagna was chosen in the third round (70th overall) by the Arizona Coyotes.

Meanwhile, London native Dylan Roobroeck, a former Jr. Knights player and current Oshawa General, was chosen in the sixth round (178th overall) by the New York Rangers.