Despite getting off to a good start, the Lakehead Thunderwolves fell 7-3 to the University of Quebec-Three Rivers Patriotes in front of 2538 fans at the Fort William Gardens on Friday night.
Lakehead jumped out to an early lead when David Quesnele fed Nathan Cull, who redirected the puck past UQTR goalie Guillaume Nadeau 6:13 into the game, with Ryan Magill picking up the other assist.
A minute and a half later, defencemen Mike Quesnele and Justin Sefton set up forward E.J. Faust for a wrap-around goal that put the Wolves up 2-0, and at this point things were looking good for a Lakehead team that seemed like it was poised to win its fourth OUA contest in a row.
That optimism evaporated quickly when UQTR scored two power play goals on Lakehead netminder Jeff Bosch in a two-minute span to tie the game up by the 10:34 mark of the first period. Marc-Oliver Mimar put the Patriotes on the board first, with Jeremy Beaudry getting the equalizer.
UQTRs Carl-Antoine Delisle later added two more scores to give the Patriotes a 4-2 lead after 20 minutes.
Lakehead pulled to within one when Magill rifled the puck past Nadeau at the 4:00 mark of the second period. Cull and David Quesnele were credited with the assists, and that trio was clearly the Wolves best line throughout the night.
Tommy Tremblay replied for the Patriotes just over a minute later, and then Mimar added another in the latter stages of the middle stanza to give UQTR a 6-3 lead after two periods.
In the final frame, Lakeheads Sefton, Mike Hammond and Carson Dubchak all had good scoring opportunities, but each of them were stymied by Nadeau.
Bill Lacasse iced the game for the Patriotes when he scored with just over three minutes remaining.
Shots on goal for the game were 36-27 in favor of the Thunderwolves.
The Molson Three Stars of the game were:
1.Carl Delisle, UQTR
2.Nathan Cull, Lakehead
3.Marc Mimar, UQTR
Lakehead will look to bounce back when the two teams take to the ice again at the Fort William Gardens on Saturday night.