The Portage Terriers opened their pre-season schedule last night at Stride Place with an exciting 5-4 win over the Virden Oil Capitals. In a game designed for evaluation of rookies, assistant coach Paul Harland was still happy to get the win. "We're giving everybody a chance to play in all situations, whether we win or not is a bonus." He felt some of the local players performed well and he liked what he saw from Brendan Benoit, Tyson Allison, Jayson Kotchon and Reilly Funk. 

The Terriers opened the scoring in the first period with a breakaway goal by Bryce Krauter. Virden would tie the game before the end of the frame. The Oil Capitals came out strong early in the second period and opened up a 4-1 lead. As is the custom in all rookie games, halfway through the second period both teams put in their second goalie.  Benoit would stop all 20 shots he faced giving Portage a chance to win. The Terriers started to chip away at the lead scoring twice before the end of the period.  Goals came from Jacob Brown and Kolton Shindle. 

Things evened out in the third period before Tyson Allison tied the game with less than three minutes to play. In front of his hometown crowd Joey Moffat set up Brown in overtime for his second goal of the night. 

After the game the Terriers released 6 players narrowing their roster down for opening night. Portage now gets ready for a rematch in Virden next Tuesday. The regular season will begin September 22nd.

For the complete box score CLICK HERE.