Story courtesy portageonline.com
The Portage Terriers lost 4-3 Friday night at the hands of the Selkirk Steelers. This was a game that saw the Terriers pick up a point as they took it to overtime, but they ultimately could not pull out the victory.
The Terriers couldn’t get too much going offensively in the first period as they were heavily outshot 19-6 in the frame, however, goaltender Jayden Catellier kept the game knotted at 0-0 with a couple of key stops.
Catellier was cracked by Selkirk early in the second as Mathieu Catellier flipped the puck in front for Tyson Smith from behind the net and he made no mistake about it. 1-0 Steelers.
With under five minutes left in the period, Hayden Lacquette fired a shot from the point after the Terriers won a faceoff in their own zone. His initial shot was stopped but the rebound was left right on the doorstep for Austin Peters to tap in and tie the game.
Just over a minute to go in the frame, Daniel Siso fired a shot that was blocked by a Steeler defender but the puck dropped right in front of Austin McLean in tight. He ripped a shot five-hole and beat Cole Plowman and gave the Dogs their first lead of the night, which they held onto into the second intermission.
Former Terrier Sheldon Howard tied the game back up in the third after jamming in a rebound opportunity. Just a few minutes later, Ben Bonni had the puck in a 2-on-1 rush and slid a pass across for Dante Ballarin. Lacquette stretched his stick out to try and break up the pass but it went just underneath it and Ballarin found the back of the net.
Portage responded almost immediately as Tyler Dodgson took a shot from the point that created a scramble in front of the net. His shot couldn’t beat Plowman but Brandon Funk was able to find the puck in traffic and tap it into the back of the net, tying the game 3-3.
Matt Wisener had two breakaway attempts in the final ten minutes but was denied on both attempts. The Steelers also had a breakaway opportunity in the final ten seconds of regulation but Catellier slammed the door shut with his pad to bring this contest to overtime.
Unfortunately for Portage, it was Selkirk who struck in overtime as Tyson Smith scored his second goal off a one-timer in this outing and snatched the win from the Dogs’.
Terrier goalie Jayden Catellier outlines what they can take away from this game.
“I think we played pretty well in the second period,” Catellier explains. “If we played like that for most of the game, I think we could’ve come away with the win.”
Catellier describes what they’ll be looking to do differently in tomorrow’s rematch.
“We want to get up on them early, play our game, and not let them get in our heads,” says Catellier. “We have to get on them early, outplay them, out-skate them, and pick up the two points.”
Before the game Catellier was recognized as the MB Liquor & Lotteries player of the month for January.
These two teams are back in action again tomorrow night in Selkirk with puck drop set for 7:30.
