The Lakehead Thunderwolves were defeated 6-5 by the Waterloo Warriors at the Columbia Ice Field in Waterloo, Ontario Friday night in their OUA regular-season opener.
Cody Alcock beat Waterloo goalie Mike Morrison to give the Wolves the early lead, but the Warriors' Mike Moffat repliedby slipping the puck past Wolves' netminder Jeff Boschwith just under a minute remaining in the first period. Not to be outdone, Kelin Ainsworth put Lakehead back in the lead with only nine seconds left in the opening stanza.
The two teams traded back-to-back power play goals midway through the second period, with Chris Chappell scoring for Waterloo before Mike Quesnele put the Wolves ahead by a 3-2 margin.
Waterloos Colin Behenna knotted the game at 3-3 with just over five minutes remaining in the period, and then Justin Larson notched the Warriors second power play marker with less than a minute to go in the middle frame, giving Waterloo the 4-3 lead heading into the final 20 minutes.
Lakehead came out strong in the third period with Keith Grondin and Jake Wright each scoring before four minutes had elapsed, giving the Thunderwolves a 5-4 lead.
But just past the midway point of the period, The Warriors responded when Jeff Einhorn tied the game up again at 5-5, and less than two minutes later, Waterloos Chappell fired home his second goal of the game to close out the win for the Warriors.
The Wolves will stay in the Kitchener/Waterloo area as they prepare to take on the Laurier Golden Hawks Saturday night beginning at 7:30.