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'It was pretty crazy': Georgetown Raiders goalie makes history

With empty-netter against North York, Newlove joins Grunwald in exclusive group
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Georgetown Raiders goalie Michael Newlove scored an empty-net goal Saturday against North York, joining Gabe Grunwald as the only goalie to score in team history.

HALTON HILLS - Michael Newlove is pretty good at stopping pucks, but Saturday the Georgetown Raiders goalie showed he can do more than just prevent goals.

With the Raiders leading North York 4-2 in Saturday afternoon’s Ontario Junior Hockey League game, North York dumped the puck into Georgetown’s end and pulled its goalie for an extra attacker. Newlove stopped the puck behind his own net, then lofted a shot over the heads of everyone on the ice. It landed just beyond centre ice and slid into the empty net.

Newlove said he thought about it once he saw the North York goalie head to the bench for the extra attacker. 

“They ended up dumping it in and I was like…” Newlove told the OJHL’s Jim Mason. “I remember picking up the puck off the boards and… I don’t even remember shooting it. Then I pretty much blacked out (again) after I saw it go in. It was pretty crazy.”

Newlove’s teammates mobbed him in the corner before the goalie skated past the bench getting high fives.

Newlove joins Gabe Grunwald, who scored during the 2012/13 season, as the only Georgetown Raiders/Gemini goalie to score a goal since 1975.

Coincidentally, the last OJHL goalie to score a goal was against the Raiders when Milton’s Glen Crandall scored on Jan. 26, 2024. It was the second goalie goal of the season in the OJHL. Brett Fullerton of Haliburton scored on Dec. 1, 2023, ending a decade-long drought since Grunwald’s goal on Nov. 12, 2012.

The goal also iced a 5-2 win for Georgetown, extending its winning streak to five games.

Jayden Levesque and Douglas Mitchell staked Georgetown to a 2-0 first-period lead. North York cut the lead in half with the only goal of the second period but Josh Currie and James Wong put the Raiders up 4-1 in the third. 

North York scored with 31 seconds to play, setting the stage for Newlove’s goal 15 seconds later.

Newlove - the first overall pick by Windsor in this year's Ontario Hockey League U18 draft - said he had tried for a goal a few times, including once this year with the Raiders. 

“I’ve been practising it ever since I can remember,” Newlove told Mason. “I definitely like to get out of the net. I find playing the puck gets me more into the game, as well as helping the team with the break-out.” 

Newlove, who is 9-5-4 with a 2.54 goals-against average and .928 save percentage, is currently representing the OJHL in the Battle of Ontario against the Central Canadian Junior Hockey League. He posted a 20-save shutout in his first game at the showcase. Raiders teammates Owen Bruining and Andrew Robinson are also on the OJHL’s prospect teams. Defenceman Colin Maund is playing on the OJHL all-star team.