The Portage Terriers dropped their second game in a row after the Swan Valley Stampeders beat the Portage Terriers 6-2 in MJHL action.

Swan Valley scored 1:05 into the first period, and would add two more later on, to take a 3-0 lead. The Dogs finally struck the net with less than 3 minutes remaining when Sam Huston found the back of the net.

Swan Valley kicked off the scoring in the 2nd period to make it 4-1, before Riley Bruce tickled the twine. That's the last time the Terriers would score on this night. The Stamps would add two more, including the only goal in the third period.

The only lead the Terriers held through the game was in the shot department, nearly doubling the Stamps 42-24.

"When you're down 4-1, and the game has barely started, you're fighting an uphill battle," says Portage Assistant Coach, Paul Harland. "Obviously, we weren't quite ready to go tonight from the start. They came hard, and they were, for sure, the better team tonight."

The Terriers drop to third in the standings with a 15-5-1 record. It's a neck and race between the top six teams, who are all within four points of each other.

"It's a tight race and there's a lot of good teams. We're in the mix, we just have to make sure we're more prepared and ready to go," says Harland. "It's kind of a dog's race. Anybody can beat anybody on any given night. Every point you can get is going to be big."

The Terriers hit the road on Tuesday to take on the Winnipeg Blues. They are back in town on Wednesday for a match against the Selkirk Steelers.