After a heroic comeback, the McLean and Dickey Orillia Terriers lost a heartbreaker in overtime as the Schomberg Cougars earned a thrilling 4-3 victory Saturday night at Rotary Place.
The visiting Cougars scored the only two goals of the first period and extended their advantage to 3-0 with a power-play marker early in the middle stanza of the Jr. C contest.
But the Terriers refused to roll over.
Devon Edmonds tallied a momentum-shifting power-play goal to give the home side some life heading into the final period.
In the third, the Terriers took it to the Cougars and Mason Beck tallied his ninth of the year with just over six minutes left to help his team close the gap to 3-2.
Then, with the goalie on the bench in favour of an extra attacker, Noah Mountain notched the tying goal with just eight seconds left on the clock — much to the delight of more than 200 fans at Rotary Place. Captain Josh Brown set up the goal, notching his third assist of the game.
But in overtime, Schomberg found a way to win, beating Orillia goalie Carver Monroe five minutes into the extra period to record the triumph.
Schomberg outshot Orillia 39-36 and improved to 24-6-2-1. With the loss, the Terriers’ record falls to 16-14-1-2, good enough for a tie for fourth spot in the eight-team North Carruthers Division of the Provincial Junior Hockey League.
It’s a busy stretch for the Terriers, who travel to Caledon today for a 2:30 p.m. contest against the Golden Hawks.
On Family Day Monday, the Terriers have their final home game of the season as league-leading Stayner (32-2) pays a visit to Rotary Place. Puck drop is 3:30 p.m.
The Terriers then hit the road for their final four games of the season, which wraps up March 2 in Stayner.
