The Lakehead Thunderwolves downed the Ryerson Rams 5-1 in front of 2838 fans at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay on Friday night to sweep the Rams two games to none in the OUA West Division semi-finals.
Lakehead came out very strong in the opening minutes of the game after a dominating 7-0 victory over the Rams in the first game of the series on Wednesday night in Toronto.
Andrew Wilkins put the Thunderwolves on the board first when he tipped a Cody Alcock shot from the point past Rams goaltender Troy Passingham, giving Lakehead an early 1-0 lead.
The Wolves were all over the Rams in the first period and barely missed some great by Keith Grondin and Mike Hammond.
Mike Quesnele extended the Thunderwolves lead to 2-0 midway through the first when he finished off a nice pass from Cody Alcock who brought the puck in, circled the net and found a streaking Quesnele.
Jamie Wise cut Lakeheads lead in half at 6:57 of the second period when he deflected a point shot up high and past Jeff Bosch on the power-play.
The Wolves quickly restored their two-goal lead when Cody Alcock walked in alone and fired the puck short side past Passingham.
Bosch was shaken up when a Ryerson player crashed the net midway through the middle frame, and had to be replaced by freshman Justin McDonald in the Lakehead goal.
Lakehead added to its lead shortly after when Mike Quesnele hammered a wrister up and over Passingham while the Wolves were on the power play, to make it 4-1 for Lakehead.
The Wolves continued their dominant play in the third period, controlling puck possession and playing a physical brand of playoff-style hockey.
Jake Carrick added a third period marker to seal the 5-1 win.
The Molson Three Stars of the game were:
1.Cody Alcock, Lakehead
2.Mike Quesnele, Lakehead
3.Andrew Wilkins, Lakehead
Lakehead will now advance to the West Division finals against the winner of the Western Ontario-Windsor series, which Western Ontario currently leads one game to nothing.
Should the Wolves meet Western Ontario in the finals, Lakehead will only host game #1 of the best-of-three series on Wednesday night at the Fort William Gardens. Game #2 would be played in London, as would game #3 if necessary.
If Windsor should advance to the finals, game #1 will take place in Windsor on Wednesday night, and then Lakehead would host game #2 on Friday, and if necessary, game #3 on Saturday night.