The Portage Terriers got an early goal, and survived a late push by the Virden Oil Capitals to extend their win streak to seven games on Teddy Bear Toss Night. The Terriers won the game 6-5.
The Dogs got early offence from Declan Siwicki, the favourite as chosen by the team, as his first MJHL goal set the team’s annual Teddy Bear Toss in motion 2:46 into the game.
Siwicki says he doesn’t really remember anything for a while after the goal.
“It was amazing. I kind of blacked out after I shot it in, and then all the guys trampled me. I didn’t see the teddy bears until a couple minutes after, but it was awesome.”
Breck Hirrschoff would notch a goal as well in the late going of the first frame, a deflection through the Virden netminder that would extend Portage’s lead through 20 minutes to 2-0.
Hirrschoff outlines his thought process on getting on the scoresheet.
“I had a couple of lucky bounces tonight, but yeah, it’s good to help the team out any way I can.”
The second period would see two more goals, one each way, as Ryker Thomas was the recipient of a beautiful cross-crease pass from Parker Seymour, and jammed it home for his eighth of the season.
Virden would respond with a goal with just under five minutes remaining, making it 3-1 through the first two frames.
A major explosion in the third period saw seven goals scored between the two teams, with Hirrschoff, Jonah Lemoine, and Rhett Platt notching goals to secure the 6-5 win.
Hirrschoff notes that the schedule isn’t going to do them any favours going forward.
“It’s going to be important to stay healthy and recover well. We’ve got a lot of road games coming up so it’s important to be ready for those,” he continues. “That’s what good teams do. They can play on both nights, even when they’re playing a tough one here against Virden.”
The team has a quick turnaround with a 7:30 p.m. puck drop in Winkler against the Flyers on Sunday night.
