The McLean & Dickey Orillia Terriers continued to struggle on Saturday night as they lost to their Highway 12 rivals, the Midland Flyers, 5-0.
The Terriers were without their leading scorer and Lakehead University student Josh Brown for the first period. He was writing a business commerce exam. When he arrived at Brian Orser Arena during the end of the first period, his team was already down 4-0.
“I was a little disappointed to see the score,” Brown said. “That’s not the start we want, especially against a team like that. I think we are a lot stronger.”
While Brown admits some teams are more skilled than the Terriers, a source of pride for his squad is being known as one of the league's hardest working teams.
“Next game we need to focus on getting back to the way we played at the beginning of the year, always giving it 100 percent effort,” he said. “We need to work hard, grind, and get those dirty goals. I think that’s how we bounce back.”
Goaltender Reid Spinola was pulled after the Flyers (5-14-2-1) took the commanding four-goal lead in favour of Carver Monroe, who was brought in following the trade of Wade Monague. However, Spinola returned to the crease to start the second period.
After being out-shot 20-8 in the first period, the Terriers played much better in the second. They led the shot clock 18-9 in the second frame but failed to cash in on eight minutes of power-play time.
“We needed to get more bodies to the net,” said Terriers’ captain Dylan Palomaki. “We needed to get more quality shots.”
The Terriers couldn’t find any puck luck in the third period. The Flyers added an empty netter, and the Terriers were shut out by Flyers’ goalie Ethan May who stopped all 44 Terriers' shots on the night.
“It feels amazing to get the first shutout of the season,” May said. “This is a really big win.”
The Jr. C Terriers have now lost six of their last eight contests. During that stretch they have been injury-plagued, missing several of their usual starters for various games. They have been without Brady McLaren, Noah Mountain, Kaden Washkurk, Colton Dumond, Brock Muise, and Kaiden Robitaille.
The once Schmalz Cup-hopeful Terriers have slid down to fifth in the North Carruthers Division standings of the Provincial Junior Hockey League. With the loss, they have a record of 11-10-0-1.
“We got to work hard to get better,” Palomaki said. “We need to stick to our systems and bounce back next game.”
Around 137 people attended Saturday night’s contest at Brian Orser Arena.
The Terriers now travel to Huntsville on Friday night, seeking to turn things around before returning home from the holiday break on Tuesday, Jan. 3 when they take on Alliston. The plan is for that game to be at Rotary Place with puck drop scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
“It will be huge for us returning back to our home rink,” Palomaki said. “No matter what rink we are in, we got to show up.”
