The Lakehead Thunderwolves doubled up on the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks 6-3 Saturday night at the Campus Ice Centre in Oshawa, Ontario. With the win, the Wolves collected 4 points on the weekend with a series sweep of the Ridgebacks.
Lakehead came out strong in the first period, taking an early 1-0 lead on a powerplay goal by Pierre-Marc Guilbault at 2:17. Matt Caria added a short-handed goal at 6:43, and then Kris Hogg made it 3-0 on an even-strength goal at 12:02. The quick start by the Thunderwolves was enough to chase Ridgebacks starting goalie Jason Guy to the bench, to be replaced by Jeff Dawson. That didnt slow the Wolves down however, as Adam Sergerie beat Dawson at 16:05 to give Lakehead a 4-0 lead heading into the first intermission.
Brennan Menard got the Wolves on the board with at 1:21 of the second period to increase the lead to 5-0, and at that point it looked like the rout was on. But Ontario Tech took advantage of some powerplay opportunities late in the period on goals by Mike Noyes and Matt Pasztor to close the gap to 5-2 before the buzzer sounded to end the second stanza.
Things got a little uncomfortable for the Wolves at 1:22 of the third period, when the Ridgebacks Kyle Wetering put one past Alex Dupuis to narrow the Wolves lead to 5-3. But Trevor Gamache gave Lakehead some breathing room at the 6:03 mark when he scored on Dawson to make it 6-3 Thunderwolves to round out the scoring. The Wolves outshot the Ridgebacks 33-24 for the night.
With the win, Lakehead improves its OUA record to 7-4-1, and the Wolves now sit in sole possession of second place in the West Division with 15 points.
Lakehead returns home next weekend for a two-game series with the Nipissing Lakers - the first East Division opponent the Thunderwolves will face this season.