The Lakehead Thunderwolves fell behind early and rallied late, but that effort came up short as they were edged 4-3 by the Concordia Stingers at Ed Meagher Arena in Montreal on Friday night.
The Stingers controlled the play to start the game, and goals by Anthony DeLuca and Philippe Hudon put Concordia up by two before the midway point of the first period.
Scott Oke finished off a perfect tic-tac-toe play while the Stingers held the man-advantage at 19:26, giving Concordia a 3-0 lead after 20 minutes.
The Wolves came out with much more jump in the second, and Evan Mignault beat Stingers netminder Philippe Cadorette with a backhander at 3:26 to get Lakehead on the board.
Cadorette stoned the Wolves Cody Alcock on a breakaway later in the period, and shortly after DeLuca got his second goal of the game by beating Lakehead goalie Devin Green on a one-timer to put Concordia up 4-1 heading into the final frame.
The Thunderwolves turned the tables in the third, dominating puck possession in the final 20 minutes.
Dillon Donnelly scored from the high slot on a goal assisted by Austin McDonald and Trevor Hynnes at 11:24, and Kelin Ainsworth fired home a rebound just over a minute later while the Wolves were on the power play to narrow the gap to 4-3. Carson Dubchak and Jake Ringuette were credited with the helpers.
A Concordia penalty gave the Thunderwolves a 6-on-4 advantage when Lakehead lifted Green for an extra attacker with over a minute remaining. The Wolves applied furious pressure in the waning moments of the game and had the Stingers back on their heels, but were unable to obtain the equalizer.
Total shots on goal for the night were 37-26 for Concordia.
Lakehead went 1-for-3 on the power play, while the Stingers were 1-for-4.
The loss drops Lakeheads OUA record to an even 3-3. The Wolves will look to bounce back in tomorrow nights rematch beginning at 7:30.