The 2009 season has all come down to a numbers game for the MacMaster Pontiac Buick GMC Northmen. With one game remaining in the regular season, Orangeville finds themselves in a must win situation sitting one point out of a playoff berth in the OLA Junior B Western Conference standings.

On Sunday, Orangeville looked to have shaken off a lacklustre performance the game before in Guelph where they had been soundly defeated by the Regals 12-3.

Playing Sunday in Sarnia, Frank Collins and Kyle Kallay lead the way for the Northmen, each scoring three goals while Andrew Stoner added a pair along with singles from Brandon Trotter, Adam Hawkins, Dustin Caravello, Ace McNutt and Jake Thompson to earn the Northmen a 13-5 decision over the Pacers.

Back home on Monday night to face the Regals once again, things looked good for the Northmen up until the end of the first.

Guelph opened the scoring early in the first, tucking one past Orangeville goalie Scot Robinson at the 1:57 mark. Thompson added a pair on either side of Guelph's second marker to send the teams into the second period tied at 2-2 where the game started to unravel for Orangeville.

Stepping up the pace, Guelph made the most of their chances - both the ones created by themselves and those created by Orangeville miscues to score four punctuated with one off the stick of Stoner making it 6-3 at the end of period two.

In the third, Orangeville seemed to sense the urgency of the situation of their situation and turned up their own game only to get caught yet again by the Regals scoring twice before Cody McMahon dropped a shorthanded marker for Orangeville with 8:28 remaining in the third.

But that would be all the scoring punch they could deliver while Guelph added two more to end the game on top of a 10-4 final score.

Speaking after the game, Northmen coach Blaine Burman was unusually soft-spoken considering the results. Asked to comment on the game he summed up his teams performance with one word- disappointed. " I was disappointed with our effort, our skill. We made too many mistakes."

He went on to note the team knew what to expect from Guelph, "We knew their game plan coming into the game but failed to react".

So now the fate of the Northmen falls under the shadow of the Elora Mohawks.

With Orangeville trailing Owen Sound by one point for the final playoff berth in the Western Conference, Owen Sound plays their final game of the regular season against Elora on Thursday night. A win by by Elora would give the Northmen one last chance to overtake Owen Sound on Sunday night when Orangeville makes the trek west to face the Mohawks in the final game of the regular season for both teams at 7 p.m. in the Elora Community Centre.