Botterill's three-point night sends Terriers home with 2-0 series lead

The Portage Terriers finished strong Saturday night to pick up a 5-2 victory over the Niverville Nighthawks. They now have a 2-0 series lead heading back to Portage for game 3 on Tuesday night. 

The Terriers started the first period strong getting some early chances on former Terrier Chris Fines. Both teams had a power play but neither could score. Most of the Terriers' shots were coming from the outside. 0-0 after 1. 

Bailey Monteith made a highlight reel save to start the second period, diving back in a second effort. The Nighthawks would score moments later though on the power play; Ty Kennet notched his first of the series. 

Portage adjusted the lines by switching Kaden Kohle and Daniel Siso and it seemed to make a difference. Similar to Friday night, after getting scored on first, Portage responded with two straight goals. Mike Stubbs took a long pass and sniped home a shot off the rush. A minute and two seconds later Ryan Botterill hit Siso alone in front and he beat Fines high glove side to give Portage their first lead of the game. 2-1 Terriers. 

The offence continued to flow in the second half as Carter Spirig scored to tie the game for Niverville. With a minute to play in the period, Kohle cleaned up a rebound on the power play to make it 3-2 Portage. 

Niverville came out strong in the third period trying to tie the game. It looked like they were going to come back when Brock MacDonald went to the box for roughing. The Terriers flipped the script and Brenden Holba scored a nice breakaway shorthanded goal. The Dogs added another, moments later, from Botterill at the side of the net. 5-3 Portage. 

The game started to get physical over the last few minutes once the Nighthawks realized the game was out of reach. Monteith shut the door the rest of the way finishing with 35 saves and Portage grabbed the win. The Terriers finished the night 1/2 on the power play. 

Game 3 will be Tuesday, March 24, at 7:30 p.m. at Stride Place.