Portage was on the road to Virden last night looking for their third straight win of the New Year, but came up a little short as the Oil Caps edged out the 2nd place Terriers 6-5.
After dropping an 8-2 decision to the Blues two nights before, the Oil Caps came to play and got off to a quick start Jayden Wojciechowski scoring first just 1:54 in. Cody Thompson tied the game at one 21 seconds later with a shot from the point.
Lee would regain the lead for Virden putting the puck passed a screened Brock Aiken and the home team led 2-1 after 20 minutes outshooting the Dogs 12-6.
In the second period Portage once again pulled even on a breakaway goal from James McIsaac, his 17th of the season. In true back and forth fashion, Kirklan Lycar made the most of a Portage giveaway to put the Oil Caps back on top.
Scoring in his third straight game, Ty Enns evened the score before heading in to the second intermission.
It looked like Virden had the upperhand in the third scoring back to back goals from Cochrane and Wojciechowski to lead 5-3 just over 5 minutes in, but the Terriers weren’t finished.
Leipsic picked up his 17th of the season on a deflection in front before Brakel tied the game with a powerplay marker.
At 14:02 former Terrier Rylee Zimmer made no mistake on a pass from linemate Kirklan Lycar at 14:02 beating Aiken 5 hole for the eventual game winner.
Despite pulling their goalie with a minute left and calling a time out with 41 seconds to go, Portage was unable to draw even for the 5th time.
Virden improved their record beating Portage for the 4th straight time this season and pulling within one point of second place. The Terriers will be looking for payback next Thursday as they had back to Tundra Oil and Gas Place.
Aiken faced 32 shots and made 26 saves on the night.
The Terriers play host to the Dauphin Kings this Friday before heading to Swan Valley to face the Stampeders on Saturday.