NEWS RELEASE
JIM WILSON MINOR PEEWEE TERRIERS
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The Jim Wilson Chevrolet minor peewee Orillia Terriers looked to erase a crushing Silver Stick defeat by beating their rivals, the Barrie Colts, in the second round of the Ontario Minor Hockey Association quarter-final playoff series.
In Game 1, Orillia struggled to shake off the rust after a two-week lay-off. Barrie came out flying, at points pinning Orillia in their own end for complete shifts and peppering Orillia goalie Ryker Jacobs with shots. After two scoreless periods, it appeared as though overtime may be in the future for the two squads. However, midway through the third period, Jordan Blunt battled the Barrie forward for the puck that ended up on Tommy Goard’s stick. Goard sent the breakout pass to Cohen Robitaille who chipped the puck past the Barrie defenders. Robitaille split the defenders to give himself a partial break-away and buried the puck past the Barrie goaltender to give the Terriers a one-goal lead. Over the last six minutes, the grinding efforts of Marcus Petroff and Devin Fisher, combined with stellar defence and rock-solid goaltending from Jacobs secured the shutout and sealed the 1-0 win.
Barrie was looking to avenge the first loss and even the series up back in Orillia for Game 2. Barrie scored near the end of the first period on Jacobs and never looked back as they scored powerplay goals in the second and third period and secured the 3-0 win.
In Game 3, Orillia allowed the first shot on net to go in off the opening faceoff. Orillia battled hard the rest of the way, but Barrie’s defence and goaltending held the Terriers at bay, losing the game 1-0.
The Terriers battled the Colts at home for Game 4, with hopes of avoiding elimination. After most of the first period being scoreless, Orillia’s tired defence took a penalty. Barrie scored during the power play. In the second period, Barrie’s special teams were at it again, as they intercepted a cross-ice pass and scored on the break-away attempt. Orillia would pressure the Colts in the middle of the third period, when Nathan Healy stole the puck from a Barrie forward, put it on net and, after a scramble, Goard buried the rebound to make it 2-1. With Orillia pressuring for the equalizer, a set of bad bounces ended up with the puck going past a sprawling Jacobs to give the Colts the 3-1 lead. That was all that the Colts needed as the Terriers could not solve the Colts goalie to even the game.
Orillia will now compete in the York Simcoe playdowns against the East Gwillimbury Eagles.
