It took three regulation periods, 15 periods of mini-overtime, and 11 shooters in a shootout as Jouni Kuokkanen's Shootout goal gave the No. 3 Lakehead Thunderwolves a 5-4 win over the UNB Varsity Reds before 2480 very noisy fans in the night game of Day 2 of the Bell Varsity Cup at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay. The overtime format used at the Bell Varsity Cup is 4-on-4 for 90 seconds, then 3-on-3 for 90 seconds or until the next whistle; rotating mini-OT periods until somebody scores. After 15 mini-OT periods; it was decided to go to a shootout and Kuokkanen was Lakehead's 12th shooter in the shootout. Lakehead's other goals came from Peter Cava, Chris Shaffer, Sean Stefanski, and Murray Magill. UNB's scoring came from Jean Michel Boisvert, Craig Mahon, Ryan Mockler, and Colin Sinclair. UNB outshot Lakehead 59-49 in the game.
Lakehead's Chris Shaffer opened the game on a breakaway and he deked UNB goalie Reg Bourcier but the puck slid wide of the goal. Play went down to the Lakehead end and UNB's Andrew DeSousa fired a shot from the point that hit Lakehead goalie Chris Whitley in the mask. Lakehead then sped back up the ice and Peter Cava was set up in the slot by a great pass from Murray Magill and Cava blasted it over Bourcier's shoulder at 1:31. UNB then went on the powerplay but the Wolves killed it off. Lakehead's Brad Priestlay blasted a shot that Bourcier deflected just wide at the 4:00 mark. Lakehead then went on the powerplay but UNB killed it off. Lakehead put on the pressure at the halfway mark and Bourcier made a good save off Cava. Lakehead then went on the powerplay and Chris Shaffer converted a great pass from Joel Scherban at 12:47 with the other assist going to Jeff Richards. Lakehead kept up the pressure and Bourcier made a great toe save to rob Murray Magill at 13:45. Lakehead's Sean Stefanski picked up a nice pass from Leon Cooper on the left side and fired a rocket wrist shot that beat Bourcier over the right shoulder at 14:18. UNB called a timeout at this point. UNB picked up the play and Kyle Werner was set up all alone in front of the Lakehead goal but Chris Whitley made a great sliding pad save to save the goal. UNB went on the powerplay with two minutes left, but Lakehead killed it off to end the period. UNB outshot Lakehead 11-9 in the first.
UNB got on the board quickly in the second when Craig Mahon roofed a pass from Robert Pearce over Whitley's shoulder at 1:20. Ryan Mockler put the V-Reds within one at 3:48 when he knocked in a pass from Rob Hennigar with the other assist going to Jean Michel Boisvert. UNB then went on the powerplay and Boisvert made no mistake at 6:29 when he blasted a shot from the point that beat a screened Whitley. Lakehead then put on some pressure and UNB's Andrew DeSousa was given a five minute major and ejected from the game for a nasty crosscheck on Lakehead's Chris Shaffer in front of the UNB goal. This gave the Wolves an incredible opportunity but they could not get organized and it looked like the V-Reds were on the powerplay for the first three minutes. Lakehead Captain Joel Scherban had a good opportunity when he tried a backhander that was stopped by Bourcier to end the powerplay. Lakehead then put on pressure and Bourcier came up with a great stop to rob Lakehead's Tobias Whelan at 14:50. Peter Cava launched the puck just over the UNB goal. Then UNB went back up the ice and Rob Hennigar fired a hard shot that was stopped nicely by Whitley. The V-Reds then went on the powerplay with just over two minutes left but Lakehead killed it off nicely. UNB's Colin Sinclair then had a good opportunity as he hit the side of the net with 12 seconds left. UNB outshot Lakehead 19-10 in the second.
Lakehead came out fast in the final frame and Jeff Richards flashed down the left side, passed acros