Story and photo by Portage Online
The Portage Terriers picked up a tight 5-3 win on Tuesday night over the SJHL’s Battlefords North Stars.
It was another back and forth affair with Terrier captain Ty Barnstable leading the way; he had a goal and three assists.
A quick goal from Reece Henry opened the scoring in the first period. Ocean Wiesblatt gained the zone and fed Henry at the side of the net. He lifted the rebound up and over the pad of Joel Grzybowski.
Just like the first two games of the series, Battlefords started to mount a comeback in the second period. A Portage turnover found Owen Lamb in the slot and he made no mistake going over the shoulder of Ethan Peterson. Portage didn’t let the goal get them down. Less than a minute and a half later Orca Wiesblatt shovelled in a rebound on a goal mouth scramble. The Terriers went up 3-1 late in the period. Chase Brakel one-timed a gorgeous pass from Orca Wiesblatt off the rush.
It was an exciting finish in the third period. Portage looked to go ahead 4-1 but a goal was disallowed due to goalie interference. The North Stars then scored two goals in a three minute span. Portage once again responded quickly. Brakel recorded his second of the night going high blocker side. With Grzybowski thinking about going to the bench for the extra attacker Ty Barnstable beat him just inside the post to go up by two.
Portage would hang on for their second win of the series. The Dogs got outshot by Battlefords 31-21. The line of Barnstable, Brakel and Wiesblatt combined for nine points. The Terriers now have a 2-1 series lead and will play game four Wednesday at 8:30 pm.