The Waywayseecappo Wolverines fell below the .500 mark for the first time this season, as they dropped their second straight road game on Saturday night in a 3-1 loss to the Portage Terriers.
The Wolverines played their brand of hockey early on in the first period. Conrad Phillips was sprung on a partial breakaway and got the puck in deep on a play where Dylan Soosay jammed home the rebound past Nathan Moore to give the Wolverines an early 1-0 lead.
Portage sure didn’t wait long to get back in the game as Scott Mickoski beat Nathan Reay through the five-hole two minutes later to tie the game at 1-1.
At 15:38, Portage would take a 2-1 lead on a slick toe drag and shot from Braden Billaney just as their powerplay expired.
Wolverines goaltender Nathan Reay made a pair of key saves to keep it a one-goal game heading into the second period.
It was the Terriers who would push the pace in the second period when Ty Barnstable beat Reay in the slot to increase the Terriers lead to 3-1.
Despite a number of rather questionable calls in the second, the Wolverines were able to escape the period down by just two goals.
Emotions ran high into the third period with bad blood boiling between the two clubs. Michael Heitkamp and Ocean Wiesblatt wrestled to the ice in the first two minutes and would both head off to the penalty box.
Riley Vautour and Kolton Shindle would drop their gloves and go toe-to-toe just over five minutes later in an effort to spark their respective clubs.
The Wolverines were unable to generate enough quality scoring chances to get back in the game and would fall to the Terriers 3-1.
Nathan Reay was outstanding despite the Wolverines loss, stopping 43 of 46 shots in his best game as a Wolverine.
Now 12-13-1-2 on the season, the Wolverines will have a few days off before they host the Neepawa Natives on Wednesday, December 5th for retro night.