Two early goals against in the first period proved to be the difference as the Waywayseecappo Wolverines fell 5-3 to the Portage Terriers on Friday night.
It was the Terriers who were shot out of a cannon in the first period. After hitting three posts, Jacob Piller picked up a rebound in front and beat Ahern to give the Terriers an early 1-0 lead.
Just 21 seconds later, the Terriers struck again. Brett Namaka tipped home a point shot to give Portage a 2-0 lead, 6:09 into the first.
It wouldn’t take long for the Wolverines to respond as an early powerplay would pay dividends.
Nick Doyle made a nice patient move around a Terriers defender and slid a pass over to a wide-open Gerrik Ripley who made no mistake at the side of the night to bring the Wolverines within one, trailing 2-1.
For the second straight period, Portage would strike early. Koby Morrisseau would steal the puck in the slot and fired one in to give the Terriers a 3-1 lead.
Just over a minute later, Conrad Phillips would take a pass from Rayman Bassi and walk in the slot. Phillips held on and snapped one past Nathan Moore on his blocker side for his 22nd of the year to cut the deficit to one.
Jaymes Knee also added an assist on the scoring play.
In the third period, the Wolverines would get a pair of great chances on an early powerplay but just couldn’t get anything to go.
Minutes later, Kolten Shindle would pick up the puck off a Wolverine turnover and walk in to beat Ahern, giving the Terriers a 4-2 lead.
With 1:34 to play in the third, Portage would score on the empty net after Ahern was pulled for the extra attacker.
Logan Wotton would bat a puck out of mid-air into the net with one second left to bring the Wolverines within two, but that would be all as the Terriers would take a 5-3 win over the Wolverines.
Now 25-18-4-2 on the season, the Wolverines will have a short turnaround as they head to Winnipeg on Saturday night to conclude their two-game road trip against the Blues.