The No. 8 ranked Lakehead Thunderwolves defeated the Ryerson Rams 7-2 on Saturday night at the Lakeshore Lions Arena in Toronto. The win raises the Thunderwolves OUA record to 6-3-0, and puts the Rams at 0-8-0 in conference play. The Thunderwolves were lead by Jeff Richards with 3 goals and 2 assists, defenseman Mike Jacobsen with a goal and 3 assists, and Captain Joel Scherban with 4 assists. The Lakehead powerplay was lethal, accounting for 4 of the 7 Thunderwolves goals.
The Thunderwolves came out flying, getting quite a few early chances on Ram's goalie Braden Deane. Deane made some good stops early, but Jeff Richards broke through with a powerplay goal at 3:03 on a beautiful 3 way passing play set up by Mike Jacobsen and Joel Scherban. Lakehead goaltender Grant McCune made a nice save at the 4:26 mark off Ryerson's Mark McMillan to deny Ryerson the equalizer. Ryerson played Lakehead tight from the midway point on, with neither team gaining the upper hand for the rest of the period. Lakehead outshot Ryerson 14-4 in the first frame.
Lakehead jumped out 2-0 very quickly in the second period, when Jeff Richards scored his second goal at the 12 second mark. The puck had gone into the Ryerson end directly off the opening faceoff and took a strange hop off the boards which Richards pounced on and he quickly lifted the puck over Ram's goalie Deane. The assists went to Scherban and Bryan Duce. Lakehead's Craig Priestlay knocked in a loose puck sitting in front of Deane at 3:39 to make it 3-0, assisted by Robert Hillier and Mark Robinson. Ryerson took advantage of a Lakehead penalty making it 3-1 on a powerplay goal from Chris Pethick at 5:17. The Thunderwolves made it 4-1 when Mike Jacobsen blasted in a hard drive on the powerplay at 13:08, assisted by Richards and Scherban. Ryerson's Pethick then scored his second goal to make it 4-2 when he rifled in a loose puck in front of Lakehead's McCune at 15:55, with assists to Tyler Moss and Marco Sestito. Lakehead quickly replied at 17:38, on another powerplay goal on a hard shot from Chris Shaffer, assisted by Erik Lodge and Robert Hillier. Lakehead outshot Ryerson 16-11 in the second.
Bryan Duce made it 6-2 at 3:04 of the third on a powerplay goal set up by Richards and Jacobsen. Lakehead's McCune made a great glove save to rob Ryerson's Chris Branston at the 7:00 mark. Jeff Richards then notched the hat trick at 12:23 to make it 7-2 Lakehead, assisted by Scherban and Mike Jacobsen. Ryerson's goaltender Deane made a great sliding leg save off Lakehead's Robert Hillier at the 14 minute mark and two more great stops with 2 minutes left to keep the score at 7-2. Lakehead outshot Ryerson 21-6 in the third, and 51-21 in the game.
Lakehead Head Coach Pete Belliveau said the victory was a result of a great team effort. "It's the kind of away game we like, we really outworked them and made it difficult for them to get into the game. Our powerplay was the turning point, and Jeff Richards had the game of the season so far, and that was great to see."
The two teams take to the ice again Sunday afternoon at 3:00 at the Lakeshore Lions Arena in the second game of the series.