Terriers’ Botterill busts loose to bury Blues with late-game heroics

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This article was published 17/05/2023 (1214 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Ryan Botterill’s second goal of the game with 20 seconds left in the third period lifted the host Portage Terriers to a dramatic 4-3 victory over the Collingwood Blues in the final preliminary-round game at the Centennial Cup at Stride Place Wednesday night.

The Terriers, needing a regulation win to earn three points in order to move past Collingwood into second place in Group B, pulled goaltender Bailey Monteith with 1:37 left to set the stage for Botterill’s heroics at the national junior A hockey championship.

Brock MacDonald and Austin McLean also scored for the Terriers, who had a 2-1 lead after the opening 20 minutes.

Collingwood’s Carter Diceman scored a pair of goals 81 seconds apart in the second period to pull the Blues even at 3-3 heading into the third period.

Spencer Young had the other Collingwood goal. The Blues went 0-for-9 on the power play while the Terriers were 1-for-4.

Portage finished the preliminary round with nine points in four games, tying the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League champion Battlefords but the Stars clinched top spot in the group because they won the head-to-head matchup between the teams.

As a result, Portage will face the Maritime Hockey League’s Yarmouth Mariners in one of Friday’s quarterfinals while Collingwood, champs of the Ontario Junior Hockey League, will take on the Central Canada Hockey League’s Ottawa Junior Senators.

Monteith stopped 40 shots in the Portage net while Collingwood goaltender Noah Pak made 36 saves.

All playoff teams will have a day off today with Battlefords, winner of Group B, and the Brooks Bandits, unbeaten leaders of Group A, earning byes into Saturday’s semifinals.

Sunday’s final will be broadcast on TSN.

The Steinbach Pistons and Kam River Fighting Walleye finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in Group B and did not qualify for the playoff round.

In other preliminary games Wednesday, it was: Yarmouth Mariners 3, Terrebonne Cobras 2; and Timmins Rock 2, Ottawa 1 in a shootout.

Mariners 3 Cobras 2

Nathan Kelly broke a 2-2 tie at 10:59 of the third period to give the Maritime Hockey League champs their first win of the tournament.

Reilly Mayne and Patrick Hurley gave Yarmouth a 2-0 lead midway through the first period.

Genaro Fronduto and Anthony Di Cesare replied with goals for Terrebonne, which received a 24-save performance from Nikolas Hurtubise. Keegan Warren stopped 28 shots in the Mariners net.

Yarmouth, which finished the preliminary round tied at four points in Group A with Terrebonne and Timmins, earned third place and a spot in a Friday quarterfinal.

Rock 2 Jr. Senators 1 (SO)

Harry Clark had the lone goal in the shootout to lift Timmins to victory.

Emile Villiard scored the only goal for the Sens, who fired 37 shots at goaltender Patrick Boivin.

The Rock’s Lucas Piekarczyk scored at 7:03 of the third period to force overtime.

Ottawa goaltender Rorke Applebee made 19 stops.

Despite the loss, the Junior Senators finished the round robin in second place in Group A with six points. Ottawa will face Collingwood in Friday’s quarterfinals.

— staff