The Rama First Nation Minor Bantam Orillia A Terriers took on division rivals the Barrie Colts prior to the Christmas break.
Orillia battled through two periods of play with the game tied at 2-2 heading into the final period thanks to goals from Mason Burnett and Jonah Teahen. Orillia got into penalty trouble in the third which led to two straight Barrie goals and they iced the victory with an empty net goal to take the game 5-2. Assists for the Terriers went to Jakson Gerrard and Sam Laughlin. Jackson Mitchell was in net for the loss.
Orillia then traveled to Newmarket to play the Redmen. Orillia’s Dylan Arnold opened the scoring when he roofed a shot over the Newmarket goalie to give the Terriers the early lead. Teahen then slid one past their goalie to extend the lead to two. Sam Neely then stymied the Newmarket attack and earned the shutout in the 2-0 win. Assists in the contest went to Quinn McConnell, Dawson Mattison and Nolan Inglis.
The boys then took on Barrie again and the Colts scored early and often, building an 8-0 advantage until late in the third period when Inglis broke the Colt shutout on a pass from Whyatt Winkel. Orillia lost 8-1. Mitchell was in net for the Terriers in the loss.
Orillia then played against the Barrie Colt second entry team again in Barrie. Orillia’s offence had plenty of good quality scoring chances but both goalies were not to be solved in this affair, both earning shutouts. The game ended in a 0-0 tie. Neely earned the shutout in net for the Terriers.
The last game before the holiday break saw the Terriers battle the Aurora Tigers at home. The game was scoreless after the first period. Midway through the second period the Terriers found the back of the net when Inglis potted a power-play goal from Jhett Winkel. The Tigers responded with their own power-play goal to tie the game. Gerrard broke the tie with a goal minutes later on a pass from Mattison. Mattison scored a goal of his own, on an assist from Andrew Thorn, to give the Terriers a 3-1 lead heading into the final frame. Kaiden Robitaille then scored early into the second period from Owenn Banks, followed by goals from Laughlin and Gerrard. Orillia won the game 6-2. Other assists in the game went to Robitaille, Whyatt Winkel and Burnett. Neely was in net for the victory.
Orillia has four games left in the regular season and are still in the hunt for taking the top spot.
