The Portage Terriers' offence came to life last night as they blasted the Selkirk Steelers 7-1 at Stride Place. Their defensive game was strong too, as Kurtis Chapman made 35 saves in the win.

The MJHL's leading scorer during the regular season, Jeremey Leipsic, proved he could score in the playoffs. He burned past a Steeler defenseman and tucked it around Hayden Dola to open the scoring on the power play.The Terriers would take a two-goal lead four minutes later when Portage's own Jared Roy slammed home a rebound off the end boards.

Terrier forward Jared Roy (Photo by Aaron Wilgosh)

Cole McCartan would get Selkirk on the board minutes later with a backhand shot over the glove of Chapman, who was making his fourth start in a row. The goal broke his 130-minute shutout streak, which extended back to the first period in game number four. Chase Brakel restored the two-goal lead for Portage when he cleaned up a rebound at the side of the net. Despite trailing 3-1 after 20 minutes, the Steelers led in shots 20-8.

The Terriers would open things up in the second period and scored three more goals. In the first two minutes, Mackenzie Dwyer had his point shot tip off a Steeler stick into the back of the net.

Mackenzie Dwyer crashes the net. (Photo by Aaron Wilgosh)

Four minutes later A.P. call up Scott Mickoski took a great feed from Leipsic on the man advantage and fired a beautiful one-timer past Dola for his first of the playoffs. Ty Barnstable would poke home a rebound before the end of the second period to make it 6-1. The sixth goal would be the final straw for Dola as he was pulled in favour of Landon Poiron. Dola made 10 saves on 16 shots.

The pace of the game slowed down as Selkirk trailed by five goals. They came out with some jump early in the third period to try and spark a comeback, but Portage sealed it off with Dwyer's second goal of the night. Chapman continued to stand tall, ending the night with his third win of the postseason. Leipsic finished the game with 4 points (1G, 3A).

The win gives the Terriers the 4-2 series win and propels them to the semi-final against the Steinbach Pistons. The schedule for the second round has yet to be determined.

For the complete box score CLICK HERE.

Scott Mickoski lands a big right on Ryan Pruden. (Photo by Aaron Wilgosh)