Tonight the Portage Terriers were on the ice taking on the Selkirk Steelers in MJHL action.  The Terriers had a rough night out in their last game as they lost to Steinbach so they were hoping to put that game in the rearview mirror.  They would do just that as they defeated Selkirk by a score of 6-2.

It would be the Steelers getting on the board first as Bronson Kelly would bang in a rebound off a shot that Terrier goaltender Brock Aiken couldn't handle.  The Terriers would control play for much of the period with the Steelers getting very little time to set up in the offensive zone.  The Dogs would be rewarded for their efforts as Nick Doyle fired a shot off a rebound past Selkirk netminder Hayden Dola.  Portage would continue to carry the physical play as well, punishing the Steelers and wearing them down.  The teams would take a 1-1 tie into the first intermission.

The Terriers would start off the second in a great way as less than three minutes into the period, Ryan Sokoloski would take a cross-crease feed and hammer in his twelfth of the season.  Again, Portage punished Selkirk by playing a pounding physical game and controlling much of the possession battle.  Selkirk would tie it up late in the frame as Nico Labossiere lifted the puck over a sprawling Aiken during a scramble, knotting the game at two.  Less than 30 seconds later, Terriers leading scorer Jeremy Leipsic would go in one on one with the defenceman and outmuscle him for the shot, going five-hole on Dola.  Portage would take the lead into the dressing room.

All of the physical play took its toll on the Steelers in the final period as they were noticeably slower and not as quick as the Terriers.  Ty Barnstable picked up the puck as it bounced around and whacked it past Dola.  Then, Turner Ripplinger would be given a gift as the puck landed on his stick with Dola almost completely out of position and he buried in the yawning cage. Portage made it an even half-dozen when Ty Enns batted a bouncing puck past Dola for the 6-2 final score.

The line of Ripplinger, Enns and Barnstable accounted for three goals and six points on the night.  Ripplinger spoke about how his line is performing.

"We're gelling very well, Barnstable and I have played together for a couple years so it's good and throwing Enns in there, he's a good player, he can shoot the puck."

Terrier Coach Paul Harland talked about how his team played much better than they did in the loss to Steinbach.

"We were better on our forecheck tonight and our penalty killing was pretty good. I thought we got more pucks on net and we played with more urgency." 

The Terriers are on the road tomorrow evening, they head to Virden to take on the Oil Capitals.  Puck drop is 7:30 p.m.