York goaltender Derek Dolson turned aside 50 Lakehead shots to lead his No. 6 Lions to a 3-2 upset win over the No. 3 Lakehead Thunderwolves in the Queen's Cup OUA West Finals. This is the second year in a row that York has beaten Lakehead at the Queen's Cup. With the win, York advances to Sunday's final vs. the winner of the Ottawa/Toronto East Final and York also is guaranteed a spot in the CIS Nationals in Fredericton at the end of March. York outplayed Lakehead in the first with strong forechecking and then Dolson kept the Wolves at bay for the second and third. Lakehead outshot York 52-22 in the game. Lakehead was the second high-powered OUA favourite to fall in the Queen's Cup tourney as Western were upset by Toronto 5-4 on Friday night.
The game started with York's Shane Nash having a good chance taken away by Lakehead goaltender Grant McCune. Lakehead then went on the powerplay and the Thunderwolves attacked the Lions net but couldn't solve York netminder Derek Dolson early. Lakehead's Chris Shaffer gave the Thunderwolves a 1-0 lead at 8:39 on a nice individual effort with the assists going to Joel Scherban and Hugo Lehoux. York then went on the powerplay but couldn't beat McCune. Then, Lakehead's OUA All-Star defenseman Mike Jacobsen was called for hitting from behind and ejected from the game, a great loss to the Lakehead attack. York struck quickly at 11:52 on the powerplay, when Daryl Bat lifted the puck over McCune's shoulder. The assist went to Julian Smith. The loss of their star defenseman and the quick York goal seemed to take the wind out of the Wolves and York's Phil Knapp struck again at 15:02, assisted by Steve Chabbert and Bat. Lakehead outshot York 16-12 in the first.
The second opened up with quick action as both teams moved the puck up the ice with speed. Lakehead then seemed to pick up the pace and put on some pressure beginning with Murray Magill's hard shot from a sharp angle at the three-minute mark that just grazed the Lions post. Lakehead's Hugo Lehoux then fired a hard shot that was gloved nicely by York's Dolson. Lakehead's Mike Wehrstedt then sped in on a breakaway and Dolson fired out the pad to get a piece of the puck to make the great save. Lakehead then had a powerplay opportunity but couldn't generate any dangerous scoring chances. Lakehead's Magill then couldn't quite connect from the front of the York goal when Bryan Duce fed him a lovely centering pass. York then came dangerously close when Knapp dinged the Lakehead post after a nice setup from Shane Nash. Lakehead had another powerplay and kept Dolson busy but couldn't beat him. Matt Reynolds almost gave York a goal when he stole the puck from behind the Lakehead net and tried to tuck it past McCune. The period ended with York's Rich Williams and Nash breaking in on a 2-on-1 and Williams blasted a hard shot McCune turned aside with a great effort. Lakehead outshot York 16-6 in the second.
Lakehead started the third like a team possessed. They applied furious pressure and Dolson was again very sharp. He made a great skate save off Mike Wehrsted at the six-minute mark. But, Wehrstedt was not to be denied and he fired a hard shot through a crowded Lions crease that beat Dolson at 6:06. Assists went to Matt Kenny and Austin Wycisk. The Wolves kept up the pressure and then went on the powerplay. Dolson made two good saves early in the powerplay. He then robbed Lakehead's OUA West MVP Jeff Richards who was parked alone in the front of the net. Dolson followed with another great save off a hard shot from the point that was deflected by Wycisk.
York then went on the powerplay and struck quickly at 14:11 when Matt Reynolds knocked in a rebound after Lakehead's McCune made a fine save off a hard shot by York's Shane Nash. Lakehead tried desperately to get the equa