The McLean and Dickey Orillia Terriers are in a dog fight in the second round of the Provincial Junior Hockey League playoffs.
After sweeping aside Midland in the first round, the Terriers are battling their arch rivals, Stayner, in the second round. The last two years, Stayner has eliminated Orillia in the second round.
Orillia started the second round strongly Saturday on home ice, skating to a 6-4 victory at Rotary Place.
The Terriers started out fast as Caleb Tiffin-Seminara scored just over a minute into the contest, and Devon Edmonds added to the lead as the Dogs led 2-0 after the first.
In the second, the Terriers kept coming as Dylan Palomaki and Cam Chalut both found the back of the net to stake the home side to a 4-0 lead. Stayner would get on the board, but Seminara would get the lead back to four with his second of the game. However, once again Stayner would cut the lead before Seminara completed his hat trick with a late goal that gave Orillia a commanding 6-2 lead after two periods.
Stayner would get two goals to close the gap in the third period, but that was as close as they would come as the Terriers won 6-4 to take a 1-0 series lead. Reid Thomas got the win between the pipes, stopping 33 shots.
In Stayner on Sunday Stayner would get the first goal to lead early, taking a 1-0 advantage into the middle period.
In the second, the Terriers would strike with two goals as Josh Presley and Palomaki gave the Terriers a 2-1 lead. But Stayner would strike back with two of their own to lead 3-2 after two periods.
Stayner would get an early third-period goal, but Tyler Kelly would tally a pair of power-play goals to tie the game at 4-4.
However, Stayner scored three late goals, including an empty netter, to win 7-4. Thomas stopped 40 shots in a losing cause.
That sets up a pivotal Game 3 in Orillia Wednesday night. Game time at Rotary Place is 7:30 p.m. and the team is hoping for a packed house to help spur on the home side.
The Terriers thank the Orillia Hawks organization for generously giving up their ice time on Wednesday so the Terriers could play on home ice.