The No. 6 Lakehead Thunderwolves swept the Windsor Lancers with a 7-2 win Sunday at the Adie Knox Arena in Windsor. The injury-riddled Thunderwolves, minus six starters, came up with a strong offensive effort to overpower the Lancers. Lakehead raised its record to 11-3 in conference play and 16-7-2 overall. Windsor's record is now 5-8-1 in conference play and 5-13-1 overall. Lakehead had won the first game of the series 4-3 on Saturday night.
The deadly Lakehead powerplay was rolling again, scoring three of their seven goals. Lakehead was lead by Mark Robinson with a goal and two assists, Bryan Duce with 3 assists, Craig Priestlay with two goals, Erik Lodge with a goal and an assist, and Joel Scherban with two assists. Robinson scored his first goal of the OUA regular season while Hugo Lehoux scored his first goal as a Thunderwolf. Windsor's Gareth Hopes played a strong game, scoring two goals.
Lakehead's Chris Shaffer was given a five minute penalty for cross-checking early in the first period, and the Thunderwolves leading scorer was also assessed a game misconduct. This put the depleted Thunderwolves in an even bigger hole manpower-wise. However, Windsor took two minors to nullify their advantage and put the Thunderwolves on the powerplay. Lakehead's Mike Jacobsen capitalized and gave Lakehead the lead when he scored his second of the series at 9:38 on the powerplay, with assists to Joel Scherban and Bryan Duce. Windsor goaltender Derrick Laporte made a nice glove save off Aaron Picinnin shortly after the Lakehead goal. Laporte then robbed Robert Hillier who was whacking at the loose puck in front of the net. Craig Priestlay then made it 2-0 at 16:25 on the powerplay, set up by nice passing from Murray Magill and Joel Scherban. Lakehead outshot Windsor 14-5 in the first period.
The second period saw a lot of offensive chances, goals, and penalties. A Gareth Hopes' minor put Lakehead on the powerplay and Lakehead made it a costly one. Robert Hillier buried a loose puck sitting in front of the Windsor goal at 6:18, assisted by Erik Lodge and Mark Robinson. Windsor then took two minors after the goal, and Mike Budrewicz was also assessed a game misconduct, giving Lakehead a two-man advantage. Laporte made a good save off a blast from the point by Jacobsen, then another nice stop off Bryan Duce. Erik Lodge then launched a rocket from the point that beat Laporte just after the Windsor penalties had expired. The goal came at 8:48, assisted by Mark Robinson. Windsor then put on a little offensive surge of their own during another Lakehead powerplay. Lakehead's Cory McEachran first robbed Windsor's Eric Gawant on a breakaway. McEachran then made a nice save off Stu VanderGeest, followed by another save of Kyle Trudell. Lakehead then went back up the ice and Robert Hillier took a hard shot that was stopped nicely by Windsor's Laporte. Lakehead's Aaron Piccinin then blasted a shot from the point and defenseman Hugo Lehoux jumped on the rebound to score his first goal of the season at 12:33. Gareth Hopes put Windsor on the scoreboard at 15:12, when he beat McEachran with a great shot from the slot, assisted by Warren Graham. Lakehead's Craig Priestlay then made it 6-1 at 17:15, when he knocked in a nice pass from Joel Scherban in the corner. Lakehead outshot Windsor 17-6 in the second.
The third period saw Lakehead come out strong. Windsor replaced goaltender Laporte with Kevin Rivest. Mark Robinson capped an excellent individual game by scoring his first goal of the season at 4:03, with the assist going to Robert Hillier. Windsor's Kevin Rivest then made a nice save of Lakehead's Brad Bartlett. Windsor's Gareth Hopes made it 7-2 when he notched his second of the game at 6:26. Lakehead's McEachran made a nice save off a point blast from Windsor's Joe Lombard during a Windsor powerplay. Windsor kept up the pressure forcing McEachran to make three nice saves around the 15:0