In a championship hockey tournament, with teams evenly matched, competition intense and a provincial title up for grabs, one goal here or there can make all the difference.

The Niagara-on-the-Lake Wolves U18 rep team were the unfortunate victims of that reality on Saturday at the Ontario Minor Hockey Association tier 1 championships in Georgetown.

After a stellar season in which the Wolves were a dominant force, winning 40 games and only losing twice, they were crowned Niagara District champs two weeks ago and earned a spot in the provincial finals.

But in the round-robin of last weekend’s OMHA finals, single goals by two opposing teams — a power-play marker halfway through the third period in game 2 and “a seeing-eye shot” that found the net with under two minutes to play in game 3 — brought the Wolves’ season to a heartbreaking end.

They had hoped for more, though as head coach Adam Whyte noted in an interview later, “If, at the beginning of the year, you told me we would have this type of record and win two tournaments, I would have been all for it.”

“But I’m heartbroken for these kids and just sad that we didn’t get a chance to get into the semifinals, because this team usually gets better as tournaments go on,” he said. “They work so hard.”

It was tough on everyone, he said, especially because for most players on the team, it also was the finale of their minor hockey careers.

 “A lot of the kids were upset, but only one team wins,” he said. “There’s a lot of other teams that are upset as well.”

Things started off really well as NOTL took game 1 last Friday, walloping the Mitchell Meteors 9-2.

But “a couple of bad bounces and flukey goals really cost us” in subsequent games, Whyte said.

A power-play goal by the Napanee Stars midway through the third period led to a 1-1 tie in game 2 and then penalty trouble hurt NOTL in game 3 versus the Mooretown Jr. Flags, he said.

The Wolves were behind on the scoreboard for most of that game and played a lot of it shorthanded, but they fought back to tie it at 2-2 in the third period.

Then, with just over a minute to play, a shot off a faceoff in the NOTL end found a hole and the back of the Wolves’ net, giving Mooretown a 3-2 victory.

A tie with Mooretown likely would have been sufficient for the Wolves to advance to Sunday morning’s semifinal.

Despite the bitter disappointment of losing, remarkably, NOTL still had one more slim chance at advancing.

The game immediately after that loss pitted Napanee against Mitchell and if the 0-2 Meteors could win or even tie, then NOTL could move on.

With several Wolves players watching from behind the glass, it was all over quickly.

Napanee unloaded on its opponents, scoring five times in the first period and skating to a 6-1 win.

The next morning both Napanee and Mooretown lost their semifinals, so Kawartha and Elmvale, the top two teams on the other side of the draw, played for the championship.

Kawartha won it 2-1 in overtime.

For many of the Wolves, this was their second year in a row playing in the U18 OMHA championships. In 2024, they also just missed making it to the semifinals.

For 12 of the 16 players on this year’s team, the championship run marks the end of their minor hockey careers, Whyte said.

NOTL doesn’t ice any teams after U18 and most of the players will be moving on to study at college or university.

It’s a bittersweet ending for Whyte as well. He’s probably going to take a break from coaching next year, though he might help out with his daughter’s team at some point.

He has no regrets about this year, though. “We had quite a run.”

With an enviable overall record after the OMHA tourney of 41-3-7, the U18 Wolves season was a huge success by any measure.

And they’ll wrap it up with a team party and player awards as team members prepare to move on to the next phase of their lives.

The U18 rep team is comprised of Ethan Dulas, Nate Ditto, Eddie Friesen, Logan Rossi, Sheldon Walker, Devin Hunter, Dylan Price, Jacob Dulas, Mitch Olsen, Noah Whyte, Easton Andres, Calo Zambito, Josh Dulas, Billy Pillitteri-Smith, Jacob Cook, plus goaltenders Quinten Davis and Nick Sattarzadeh.

Whyte’s coaching staff includes assistants Ryan Parsons and Justin York, and trainer Glen Davis.