The Waywayseecappo Wolverines just couldn’t quite solve the Portage Terriers and would fall 5-2 in game four on Friday night to get eliminated from the postseason after dropping their fourth straight.
It would take a few minutes for each team to settle into the first period and for the fourth straight game, it would be the Terriers who got the scoring started.
Sam Huston would bank a shot off the shoulder of Isaac LaBelle on the powerplay at 13:43 to give the Terriers a 1-0 lead.
The Wolverines would press, but couldn’t get one past Peterson in the first and would head into the first intermission trailing the Terriers, 1-0.
It sure wouldn’t take long for the Terriers to pick up where they left off in the first. Jared Roy would beat LaBelle to give the Terriers a two-goal lead.
Less than one minute later, Chase Brakel would snap one over the shoulder of LaBelle to give the Terriers a 3-0 lead less than seven minutes into the second.
The Wolverines would find a response on a powerplay of their own when Jake Bestul’s wrist shot beat Ethan Peterson’s blocker to cut the lead to 3-1.
Despite taking momentum, another Terrier powerplay would give them their three-goal lead back on Sam Huston’s fifth goal of the series to make it 4-1 Terriers.
Bad blood would start to boil over near the end of the second period as these two clubs have come to know each other quite well over the last four games.
Down three goals heading into the third, Waywayseecappo would have twenty minutes to push their season another game.
Just five minutes into the third period, Brandon Lawson would strike on the powerplay for his third goal of the playoffs to bring the Wolverines within two.
And just as quick as the Wolverines would score, the Terriers would find an answer. Owen Murray would get a favorable bounce that somehow found its way past LaBelle to put the Terriers in front, 5-2.
Each team would exchange unpleasantries in the third period and the game would lose its flow once each team continued to battle after the whistle.
Despite getting knocked out of the playoffs in four straight games, the Waywayseecappo Wolverines are officially back in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League.