Written By Brian Lockhart

The semi-final round of competition in the North Carruthers Division of the Provincial Junior Hockey is underway as four teams remain in their bid to make it to the final.

First place in the Division, the Stayner Siskins are up against the Orillia Terriers in their semi-final match.

Stayner was the powerhouse team in the league this season, finishing with a
36-4 record.

The Terriers ended the season well back with a fifth-place finish and a 19-19-2 record. Orillia dispatched the Innifil Spartans in a series that took five games in their quarter-final.

Stayner is leading the series with Orillia 3-0.

The Siskins eliminated the Midland Flyers in four games in their quarter-final series.

Game one of the Stayner versus Orillia semi-final got underway on Siskins' home ice on Mar. 23 and ended with a 7-4 Stayner win.

Game two was not a pretty game for a playoff series, with the Siskins hammering the Terriers 11-5 on their home ice
in Orillia.

The third game of the series was back in Stayner on Sunday, Mar. 26. Orillia managed to have a 3-2 lead in the third period, but the Siskins tied it up with just under three minutes remaining in the third period, and the game went into overtime to decide a winner.

The first regulation overtime period did not produce a winner, and the teams returned for a second overtime period.

This Siskins won the game when they scored at 13:05 into the second
overtime period.

Game four of this series was scheduled for Wednesday, Mar. 29, in Orillia, with results unavailable at press time.

The other semi-final series pits the Alliston Hornets against the Schomberg Cougars.

Both of these teams were strong this season. Alliston finished the regular season in second place with a 30-9-1 record, including two overtime losses.

Schomberg was close behind with a 28-11-1 record, including two overtime losses.

This series is expected to go six or seven games as these are pretty equal teams, but the Hornets took an early lead with a 3-2 win in game one. That was after the teams played to a tie and went into overtime.

It took two overtime periods to decide a winner when the Hornets scored at 16:17 into the second OT period.

Game two of the series got underway in Schomberg on Saturday, Mar. 25, and ended with a 4-1 Alliston win to give them a 2-0 lead in the series.

The Cougars were back in the series with a 5-3 win on Alliston ice on Mar. 27.

Alliston was leading going into the third period, but three unanswered Schomberg goals gave the Cougars the win. 

Game four of the series is scheduled for Thursday, Mar. 30, in Schomberg.