After five closely fought games against the Collingwood Blackhawks, the Huntsville Bantam AE Thermoseal Otters are finally out of the Ontario Minor Hockey Association playdowns.

The Otters won Game 4 on Saturday to force a fifth and final game on Sunday in Collingwood. Despite a heroic effort, the Otters came up short, losing the series three games to two.

Huntsville won 3-2 on Saturday night at the Jack Bionda Arena. They jumped to a 2-0 lead on goals from Justine Treadwell (assisted by Brendan Krahn) and Krahn (assisted by Curtis Hall). The visiting Blackhawks came back with one, but Josh Benedetti scored the Otters’ third goal (assisted by Ethan Ward), to restore a two-goal lead. The Hawks scored one more with less than three minutes remaining, but Huntsville hung on to tie the series at two wins apiece.

The stage was set for the winner of the fifth game to take the series and move on to the next round. The visiting Otters again jumped to a two-goal lead. The goals came from the sticks of Brandon Quan (assisted by Dylan Brown and Hall) and Krahn (assisted by Quan and Carley Gray). However, the Collingwood squad would not quit and scored four unanswered goals in the second to take the lead. Captain Tyler Van Horne brought his team back within a goal late in the second on a bullet shot. With less than five minutes left in the third period Krahn scored on a deflection from Quan, set up by Tyler Ralph. Unfortunately, the Blackhawks scored what would be the series winner with 2:19 minutes left on the clock. The Otters pulled their netminder but could not score to send the game to overtime. Collingwood will move on to the next round of the playdowns.

The series could not have been closer. The last three games were each decided by a lone goal, one of them in overtime. Huntsville even outscored the Blackhawks in the series 17 to 15. The Otters’ goaltending duo of Trevor Roffey and Tyler Coleman shone throughout the series, and gave their team a chance to win in every game.

Huntsville still has more hockey to play. They will begin the Muskoka-Parry Sound League playoffs in the near future, and compete in a St. Catharine’s tournament over the Easter weekend.

Coach Rob Van Horne was disappointed in the series’ outcome but said afterward, “We’re not done having fun yet.”