The No. 8 Lakehead Thunderwolves defeated the Waterloo Warriors 9-3 in OUA hockey action Friday night at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay. The win puts Lakehead's record at 1-0-0 in OUA play (5-1-0 overall). Lakehead was led by Joel Scherban and Bryan Duce with 2 goals and an assist each while Mike Wehrstedt and Jeff Richards added a goal and 2 assists each.
The Thunderwolves struck early on the powerplay at 2:22 when Erik Lodge knocked in a rebound off a hard point blast from Matt Kenny. The other assist went to Jeff Richards. Waterloo's Adam Metherel then went up the ice and rang the post at 2:58. Lakehead's Mike Wehrstedt made it 2-0 at 6:49 when his centering pass bounced off a diving Waterloo defensman, with the assist going to Murray Magill. Waterloo struck back at 8:30 when Joe Pellegrino knocked in the puck from the slot, assisted by Mike Della Mora and Daniel McGahey. Waterloo tied it at 11:49 when Adam Metherel beat Lakehead goaltender Grant McCune with a wraparound goal assisted by Mark Clark. Lakehead quickly jumped back into the lead at 12:14 when Bryan Duce converted a great pass across the crease from Mike Wehrstedt, with the other assist going to Jeff Adduono. Jeff Richards gave the Thunderwolves a 4-2 lead at 5:42 with a great individual effort. Richards carried the puck on his backhand in front of the Warrior goal with a defenseman draped around him. He then spun to his forehand and roofed it past Elliot. The assist went to Chris Shaffer. The period ended with some great penalty killing by Lakehead's Richards. Although there were a lot of goals, the period was played at a fairly slowly pace. Shots in the period were 13-9 for Lakehead.
The second period opened with a quicker pace and Lakehead putting on the pressure in the first four minutes. The Thunderwolves were finally rewarded at 4:15 when Captain Joel Scherban knocked it past goaltender Elliot from the right side of the net on a great unassisted effort. A Thunderwolves penalty to Steve Rawski didn't stop the Lakehead offense. Bryan Duce made it 6-2 at 6:02 shorthanded after finishing off a lovely pass from Mike Wehrstedt. Lakehead quickly added another shorthanded goal at 6:31 when Jason Lange was set up on a breakaway from a nice pass from Jouni Kuokkanen. Lange made no mistake, beating Elliot with a deke and lifting it high on the backhand. This goal forced a Warrior goaltender change, with Scott Gouthro replacing Elliot. Gouthro made a series of nice stops during a subsequent Lakehead powerplay. Lakehead then had a 5 on 3 powerplay and Scherban made it 8-2 at 15:52 when he lifted in the puck during a goalmouth scramble. Assists went to Duce and Shaffer. Waterloo's Richard Scott made it 8-3 at 17:47 on a Warrior powerplay. Scott beat Lakehead goaltender McCune with a hard slapshot, with assists going to Michael Nixon and Mathew Iannetta. Shots were 13-10 Lakehead in the second.
The third period opened with Lakehead's McCune making a great sliding stacked pad save robbing Waterloo's Daniel McGahey. Lakehead's Tyler Williamson made it 9-3 at 3:31 set up nicely by Scherban and Richards. Lakehead's Murray Magill rang the crossbar with a wicked blast from the high slot during at 13.10 during a Lakehead powerplay. Waterloo's Gouthro then made a great glove save off a blast from the Thunderwolves' Erik Lodge. Waterloo goaltender Gouthro had to come up with a lot of big saves throughout the third to keep the score down and played very solidly for the Warriors. Shots on goal were 14-6 for Lakehead in the third and 40-25 Lakehead for the game.
Lakehead Head Coach Pete Belliveau said his team played consistently on the night. "I like the way our guys kept up the pressure. And I thought Mike Wehrstedt was great; that was his best game as a Thunderwolf. Tomorrow w