Brandon Caputo
@BCaputo_AGM
After a strong Game 3 performance, the Niagara IceDogs were looking to build on that going into Game 4 to keep the series close against the heavily favoured Barrie Colts in St.Catharines.
Barrie, however, would take advantage of a young an playoff inexperienced IceDogs with a quick goal to end the second period and a pair of goals to open the third period after Tristan Bertucci batted a puck out of mid-air on the goal line, directly leading to Barrie's go-ahead and eventual game-winning goal on the other end by Anthony Romani.
Veteran forwards Alex Assadourian and Mathieu Paris continued their strong play through the first four games of this series, adding a goal each while playoff experienced defenceman Matthew Virgilio added a pair of assists.
Niagara had two leads in the game but weren't able to fend off a high-motor Colts team who responded every step of the way despite some rough patches in the first and second period.
Barrie went two for three on the powerplay which was a big reason they picked up the victory, while Niagara sputtered on three of their four man advantages after an Andrei Loshko one-time blast on their first one, which opened the scoring.
Owen Flores made five incredible glove saves for Niagara stopping 40 of 45 shots he faced, keeping his team in it as he tries to extend his Ontario Hockey League career as much as he can in his overage season. Sam Hillebrandt was back in the net for Game 4 after Ben Hrebik started the previous game and had a bounce-back performance with a 28-save victory.
Barrie would score three times in the third, from the aforementioned Romani, Beau Jelsma and Dalyn Wakely in the empty-net to give the Colts a 6-3 victory and a 3-1 series lead heading back to Sadlon Arena on Saturday night, looking to close out this Central Division battle and head to round two of the 2025 OHL Playoffs.
