For a little over a period, it looked as if the McLean & Dickey Orillia Terriers were poised to pull off a massive upset in Jr. C Provincial Junior Hockey League playoff action Thursday night.
The Terriers struck for three goals in less than five minutes in the opening frame of their second-round, series-opening game against the Stayner Siskins, the reigning regular-season champions.
But after goals from Brady McLaren (short-handed), Josh Brown and Colton Dummond (on the power-play), the Siskins pulled starting goalie Derek Hartley and brought in Nick Ciccarelli.
Then, with just 15 seconds left in the first, Stayner scored a back-breaker to cut the visitors’ lead to 3-1.
Dylan Palomaki scored to restore the Terriers’ three-goal advantage early in the second period.
Then, the roof caved in for the visitors. Stayner dominated the rest of the night, scoring six straight goals to rally to a 7-4 victory — much to the delight of more than 380 fans at the Stayner Memorial Arena.
Orillia netminder Reed Spinola took the loss between the pipes, allowing seven goals on 28 shots. Ciccarelli stopped 16 of 17 shots in his two-plus periods of work to earn the victory.
With the win, the powerhouse Siskins have a 1-0 series advantage as the series shifts back to Orillia.
Game 2 will be played Saturday night at Rotary Place. Puck drop is 7:30 p.m.
