Mitch Wiebe was more like a brick wall between the pipes last night.

He earned the shutout for Portage in their 3-0 win over Notre Dame in Game 2 of the South Eastern Manitoba Hockey League Championship Final. They now lead the best-of-seven series 2-0 over the Hawks.

"The guys were really letting me see things, and we capitalized on a few good chances," says Wiebe. "It doesn't always go like it did last night but we'll take the win for sure."

The Islanders came out hard in front of the Portage faithful hoping for a home team victory. The fans were rewarded as Portage was first on the board. Tanner Waldvogel scored his team-leading 10th of the playoffs to take a 1-0 lead halfway through the first. Anders Strome and Chris Reykdal were awarded assists on the Waldvogel goal. That was the only goal in a physical first period.

The Portage fans were on their feet again early into the second. Tyler Moore scored 1:30 into the middle frame. Reykdal picked up his second assists of the night, Zack Waldvogel scored the other assist. Notre Dame had a chance to get on the board halfway through the period but Wiebe made a great pad save to keep them off the board. The Islanders had a few powerplay opportunities late in the period but couldn't add to their 2-0 lead.

Jordyn Boyd celebrates his goal to make it 3-0 Islanders in Game 2. (Photo by Aaron Wilgosh)

It didn't take long for the hometown crowd to celebrate in the third. Jordyn Boyd made it 3-0 for the Islanders with a top corner snipe a couple of minutes in. Each team would be rewarded a couple of powerplay opportunities in the period but neither could find the back of the net. The Hawks had several glorious scoring opportunities in the third period but Wiebe shut the door every time to earn the shutout.

"It obviously starts from the goalie out," says Islanders' forward Jordyn Boyd. "You start with him, go out to the defence, then the forwards, and from there we scored some goals and shut the Hawks down. Our lines are clicking right now. We've got three solid lines that we can just go with, and we're finding each other out there."

"I think we match up against them really well," notes Wiebe. "They're a North/South team and they work really hard. Carman was a little more like pond hockey where we needed to capitalize on breakdowns, but I think we have a better time containing the Hawks. It's a lot of fun playing against them."

Mitch Wiebe stretches out to make a huge pad save in the third period to keep it 3-0. (Photo by Aaron Wilgosh)

Hawks' forward Justin Dalebozik felt the game was a lot closer than the 3-0 final.

"We were right there with them," says Dalebozik. "We had a lot more good opportunities we just couldn't bury it. We just need to get the first one early on in a game and the rest will come. They've got a good team over in Portage and I think it's going to be a great series. It's not over yet."

The Islanders take a 2-0 series lead into Game 3 Monday in Notre Dame.