BRANTFORD, ONTARIO – The Titans were in a do or die situation on Friday ahead of game 4 of their first round series with the Meteors. Fort Erie came into the game with a 3-0 series lead and were looking to join the Cambridge Redhawks by punching their ticket to round 2. James Gall got the start for the Titans while the Meteors countered with Rafael Tremblay.
The physicality would carry over from game 3 into game 4 as the first frame had plenty of checks, bumps and bruises between the two clubs. Despite all the physical play, neither team would have a power play chance in the first. Each team would get their looks on net from dangerous areas in the offensive zone but Tremblay and Gall stood tall in their respective cages to keep this game scoreless through 20 minutes. Shots on goal in the first period favoured Fort Erie, 15-9.
In the second, the Titans would get on the board in the early stages of the frame. There was a scramble at the side of the Fort Erie net and Tyler Clark was the only man to find the puck and he buried a backhander past Tremblay to give the Titans their first lead of the series. Kaden Wicklander and Ryan Scriven would collect the assists on Clark’s first of the postseason. The Meteors had a quick answer though. Less than three minutes later, Dylan Greenwald would light the lamp on the power play to get the game even at 1. Colton Radford and Danny Adamo picked up the assists. The middle of the period would be filled with grade A chance after grade A chance but nothing to the back of the net, despite two more power plays for Fort Erie and one for Brantford. In the dying seconds of the period, the Titans would streak into the Meteors zone on a 2 on 1 and Quinton Kim-Lemay would get just enough of the pass from Ty McHutchion in order to squeak it past Tremblay to put the Titans up 2-1 with 3.3 seconds left in the period. The Meteors led in shots after two period by a 28-19 mark.
Fort Erie would press early in the third period to try and get that late goal back but James Gall would make a couple highlight reel saves including a huge toe stop on a breakaway. The Meteors however would tie the game just past the ten minute mark of the frame. Danny Adamo would tip home his fourth goal of the series to make it 2-2. At the 14:56 mark of the third, Quinton Kim-Lemay would send a pass from the left corner right to the front of the net and Lui Indzers would tip it home to put Brantford back on top. Matteo Gauthier would pick up the secondary helper on the goal. Late in the third with the teams playing at 4 on 4, the Meteors would pull Tremblay for the extra attacker and that would allow Adamo do sneak towards the net undetected and Sam Tonelli would put it right on his tape. Adamo with his second of the game would make it 3-3, sending this game to overtime. The Meteors outshot the Titans 47-32 in regulation.
It was a battle back and forth for the entire overtime period as both goaltenders were on a mission to make sure they outlasted one another. Approaching the midway point of the extra frame, the Meteors would start to hem the Titans in their own zone and a wrister from Sam Tonelli would get deflected by Aiden Zimmerman, sending Fort Erie to round 2. Final shots on goal favoured the Meteors, 51-34.
The Meteors win this best of seven series 4-0.
The Titans finish the 2025-26 regular season with a record setting finish (6th) in the regular season, score a franchise best 170 goals and tie a franchise record for wins in a single season (20).
