ROUND 1 GAME 5 – Ottawa at Barrie (3-Apr) – Barrie Wins, Series Returns To Ottawa, (67s Lead Series 3-2)

The 67s lose 3-2 to the Colts. As expected, Little was scratched d/t an upper body injury. Hamilton replaced Little in the line up. Ottawa got things going, Petruzalek scoring early in the first period. But they got themselves down by 2 men halfway through the first (Colbert ‘slashing’, followed by Reid ‘checking from behind’ – a dangerous hit by Reid), and Crombeen scored to tie it up. When Kaspar scored to give Ottawa the lead again, Barrie pulled LaCosta and sent in Thuot. A beautiful goal by Tremblay tied it up in the second. Barrie was driving hard in this period, playing with more energy and desperation than Ottawa. Battochio was the hardest worker for Ottawa (he was given a game star for his efforts by both OHL and TEAM 1200 too). Barrie continued to out-work Ottawa in the third, they scored to take the lead, and that’s how it ended. The Colts took it to the 67s, overcoming the loss of Little and the poor play of LaCosta early in the game. They definitely earned this important victory. The Colts stay alive, and both teams will meet again tomorrow night in Ottawa for Game 6. See OHL game summary here.

IN THE NEWS
From SLAM! Sports, Colts edge 67's. And similar copy appears in the Toronto Sun with this lead, Barrie strikes back.

From the Barrie Examiner Gene Pereira writes, Colts’ number not up yet. Snippets:

“We worked our heart out,” said Colts rookie centre Matthew Bragg. “We knew it was do-or-die, so, when we came into today, we knew we had to win. We were with our backs against the wall, but we pulled out the win.”

[. . .]

“This team has shown it all year,” said Hisey. “We’re a resilient bunch of guys in there. We have a lot of character and there’s going to be no quit in us, that’s for sure.”

[. . .]

Ottawa’s head coach Brian Kilrea, who was a man of few words after the game, was none too happy with the play of his team.

“I thought Battochio was the best man on the ice, and I couldn’t pick our best forward because I don’t know if anyone stood out,” said Kilrea.

“They had us today. They were all over us, basically from the drop of the puck, even though we scored first,” said Battochio, who has been outstanding throughout the series. “They outshot us and it just looked like they wanted it more than we did.”

Personally, I thought that the defence was particularly bad – standing around, not forechecking . . .

From the Ottawa Citizen Andy Watson writes, Colts chase 67's back home. Maybe there’s an excuse for LaCosta’s poor play so far:

"Danny didn't tell me he had a sore finger until he came to the bench after that second goal," Colts head coach Marty Williamson said. "It looks now like he has got a broken finger."

From the Ottawa Sun Barre Campbell writes, Battochio abandoned in Barrie. And doesn’t that say it all. This team has benefited greatly this season from having 2 solid goalies – Battochio and Guadagnolo. A quote from Battochio:

"They had us (last night)," said Battochio, who made 34 saves in another solid performance.

"They were all over us, basically from the drop of the puck, even though we scored first. They outshot us and it just looked like they wanted it more than we did."

PRE-GAME NOTES
Game broadcast on radio (TEAM 1200/Dave Schreiber and AJ Jakubec) and television (Rogers Television 22/Hinda Koza, John Bartlett, Ben Davy, and Melissa Hamilton).

LINE UP
*Forward: McGinn, Talbot, Hulit; Bickell, Bonello, Mancari; Akeson, Petruzalek, Kaspar; VanderVeeken, Ouellette, Alphonso.
*Defensive pairings: Colbert, Joslin; Stuabitz, Reid; VanHerpt, Reid.
*Starting in goal: Battochio. Guadagnolo back up.
*Scratches: Jarram, Spezza, Lawrance, Kiriakou (healthy), Lahey (inj-concussion)

SCORING
OTTAWA
1, Petruzalek, (1) (Kaspar), 01:38
1, Kaspar, (1) (Van Herpt), 07:13

BARRIE
1, Crombeen, (2) (Hotham, Fuller), 10:32 (PP)
2, Tremblay, (2) (Hisey, Bragg), 10:13
3, Hisey, (2) (Crombeen), 03:13

THREE STARS
OHL three stars were: (1) Hisey, (2) Crombeen, and (3) Battochio.

TEAM 1200 three stars were: (1) Hisey, (2) Battochio, and (3) Hotham.

REFFING
Pearce.

ATTENDANCE
4235.

NEXT UP
Game 6 Monday April 4 @ Ottawa 7:30
Game 7* Tuesday April 5 @ Barrie 7:30
* if necessary