Colts Take 1-0 Lead on Niagara
March 28, 2025 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Barrie Colts News Release
The Barrie Colts and Niagara Ice Dogs kicked off their first-round series with game one in Barrie on Thursday night. Of their six regular-season meetings, Barrie came away with five wins, their most recent victory over Niagara came in game 68 and was an 8-1 rout. The Colts snuck into the postseason as an eighth seed last year before bowing out in round one to the Oshawa Generals. This year, Barrie comes in as the two-seed after a strong regular season. For the Ice Dogs, this is their first playoff appearance since the 2018-19 season, and they enter as the seventh seed in the eastern conference. Goaltender Sam Hillebrandt got the nod to man the crease in this one, Thursday's tilt marked Sam's sixth career OHL playoff start.
Strong goaltending and physicality were the themes in the opening minutes of game one. Both netminders settled in early and cast aside any nerves they may have had entering the playoffs by turning away the first wave of shots. Anthony Romani scored the series' first goal just past the midway mark of the first, giving the Colts a first-period lead. With the sun setting on the opening frame it appeared as though Barrie would reach the first intermission with a lead, but a Niagara goal with 37 seconds remaining knotted this game back up. The Ice Dogs put forth a serious test for Hillebrandt in period number one, sending 17 pucks his way, he stopped all but one. Barrie managed 11 shots themselves but had their goaltender to thank for keeping them level with the opposition.
After getting their feet wet in the first, Barrie floored it in the middle frame, overtaking Niagara in shots quickly despite the Ice Dogs building a substantial lead in that category through 20 minutes. The Colts cashed in four minutes into the second on Cole Beaudoin's third career playoff goal to take a 2-1 lead. Niagara got on the board less than four minutes later on one of their three total shot attempts in the period, knotting the game back up, this time at two goals apiece. Barrie was afforded the period's last laugh though, closing out the middle 20 on yet another Anthony Romani goal with three minutes remaining. With the goal, they'd take a 3-2 lead and all of the momentum into the second intermission.
The third was the least eventful period from an offensive standpoint. The final frame led off with a five-minute major assessed to Evan Passmore of the Colts for a check to the head. Passmore was ejected from the game and will serve a minimum one-game suspension. The period's only goal came with under two minutes to play and belonged to Owen Van Steensel, who sealed the game as a 4-2 victory for the Colts.
Barrie takes game one and boasts an early series lead. This was a dominant win for Barrie even if it doesn't look like it in the box score, they'll look to harness this momentum and replicate their performance in game two. The series returns to Sadlon Arena on Monday the 31st after a brief hiatus over the weekend.
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