Portage Terriers

The Portage Terriers have the opportunity to take a stranglehold on their first-round series tonight.

The Dogs return to Stride Place for Game 3 with a 2-0 series lead over the Niverville Nighthawks. With a win tonight, Portage would put Niverville on the brink of elimination.

The Portage Terriers postseason is underway, and they have generated many new fans over the course of the year. While some of that is due to the team finishing first in the standings and having a prolific offence on the ice, a lot of new Terrier fans have been formed after connecting with the players off the ice. 

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. 

It took two extra periods but the Portage Terriers sent their fans home happy last night in their playoff opener. The Dogs defeated the Niverville Nighthawks 5-4 in double overtime and now have a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.

The Nighthawks entered this game as the only playoff team with more losses than wins but they sure didn't act like it. Niverville opened the scoring less than three minutes into the game as Josh Paulhus skated down to the top of the circle and sniped a shot high on the blocker side, and beat Terrier goalie Bailey Monteith.

Playoff hockey is back in Portage la Prairie. After missing the postseason for the first time since 1986 last year, the Portage Terriers are back and looking to claim the Turnbull Cup once again. 

The Terriers won the MJHL Championship in 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2019. Since then, they have had two seasons where the playoffs were cancelled due to COVID-19 and were just one point shy of making the playoffs in 2022.

For the second time in five years, the Minot State Beavers are national champions. 

The squad, with two Portagers and five former Terriers, was crowned champions of the American Collegiate Hockey Association after winning four consecutive single-elimination games. 

Three of the four contests were decided by just one goal, including the semi-final against Liberty University, where Minot trailed 2-0 after 40 minutes. The Beavers were able to push that game to overtime, and Portage's own Joey Moffatt put home the game-winner.

After a 31-3 season, the Minot State Beavers are heading to the American Collegiate Hockey Association as the top-ranked team. 

Carter Barley, Sheldin Howard, Reece Henry, Jay Buchholz, and Joey Moffatt are the five former Terriers on the roster and have all been a huge part of the team's success. Moffatt says they're feeling confident.

The Portage Terriers are happy to have been able to share their awards night with the home fans.

The organization gave out a plethora of team awards after Friday night's game against Dauphin. See the full list of award winners and photos below:

The Portage Terriers lost their first game in over a month tonight. The Dauphin Kings capitalized when it mattered most as they toppled the Terriers 7-5 at Stride Place. 

The Kings opened the scoring extremely early as former Terrier Mason Smith found the back of the net just over a minute into the game. Less than a minute later, Myles Yearwood was able to put another one past Jayden Catellier to give Dauphin an early 2-0 lead.

The Portage Terriers are just four games away from playoff hockey. 

The Dogs will play their second-last home game of the regular season tonight against the Dauphin Kings as they look to come away with their eleventh-straight victory. Forward Mike Stubbs talks about the biggest factors in the sustained success.