The Portage Terriers have suffered their first loss of the season. Sunday night at Stride Place the Virden Oil Caps played a solid 60 minute road game and it resulted in a 4-1 victory for the visitors.

The Terriers actually scored first in the game when Turner Ripplinger put one in on the power play 8 and a half minutes into the match but after that it was all Virden. The Oil Caps got goals from Ben Dalke, Kolton Kanaski, Jeran Knorr and Tyler Kirkup. Kirkup added an assist and he now has 11 points on the season, tops in the league and one ahead of Jeremey Leipsic.

Brock Aiken was back in the pipes and turned aside 28 of the 32 shots he faced while Riley McVeigh was solid for Virden stopping 28 of 29.

Terrier head coach Blake Spiller didn't feel his team came ready to play. He said Virden came with a purpose and his team didn't provide much push back. Although the Terriers did have some opportunities, Captain Chase Brakel felt they didn't capitalize when they needed too. He added Virden is a strong club and said they'll need to play better if they want to beat them. With a record of 5-1, the Oil Caps are now tops in the league. The Terriers are right behind at 4-1 and will get a chance to redeem themselves when they host Virden again next Saturday. Before that game though they'll hit the road and play the 0-5 Dauphin Kings on Wednesday.

Elsewhere in the league Sunday, Swan Valley got their first win of the year, 4-3 in a shootout against Waywayseecapo. Winkler shut out the Blues in Winnipeg 2-0 and Steinbach also posted a shut out, a 5-0 home ice win against OCN. 

Terrier game summary