The No. 5 Lakehead Thunderwolves beat the Waterloo Warriors 5-1 Friday night before 3184 fans at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay. Lakehead's conference record now stands at 12-3 in conference play and 17-7-2 overall. Waterloo's record falls to 0-14-1 in OUA play and 1-16-2 overall.
The Thunderwolves unleashed 49 shots on Waterloo goaltender Jason Willard, while Lakehead's Grant McCune faced 13 Waterloo shots. However, Waterloo skated hard and frustrated the Thunderwolves with their hustle and tight checking. Lakehead was lead by Jason Lange with 1 goal and 2 assists and Jeff Adduono and Bryan Duce with a goal and an assist each. Matt Kenny added two assists and Lakehead newcomer Kris Bragnalo recorded an assist in his first game with the Thunderwolves. Waterloo's Willard played a strong game, keeping the Warriors close until the third period.
The first period started with the referee ruling that an apparent Bryan Duce goal for Lakehead had hit the crossbar. The next eight minutes saw Waterloo's Willard make a lot of good saves to keep the Thunderwolves at bay. The Thunderwolves put 10 shots on net in the first 5 minutes. Lakehead's Bryan Duce finally broke through at 10:00, set up with two great passes from Matt Kenny and Jeff Adduono. Waterloo struck back 10 seconds later when Jeff Richards broke in alone and beat Lakehead's McCune with a nice fake. Waterloo assists went to Matt Iannetta and Mike Clarke. Lakehead's McCune made a great toe save off Waterloo's Darren Fischer near the end of the first. Lakehead outshot Waterloo 20-4 in the period.
The second period saw Waterloo play a little better, enjoying a fair bit of puck possession, but they weren't able to use this to generate many shots on goal. Lakehead's Adduono scored at 6:26 on a lovely backhand flip over Willard, assisted by Jason Lange and Mike Jacobsen. Lakehead put the pressure on during the last five minutes and Willard came up with three big saves, robbing Lakhead's Adduono and Erik Lodge. Lakehead outshot Waterloo 14-6 in the second period.
Lakehead finally solved Willard in the third period, knocking in three goals from rebounds. Jason Lange backhanded a rebound past the Waterloo goalie, assisted by Duce and Shawn Perring. Robert Hillier made it 4-1 at 13:04 when he roofed a loose puck over the sprawled Waterloo goaltender, assisted by Lange and Lodge. Wyatt Tunnicliffe notched the final goal at 13:29, assisted by Matt Kenny and Kris Bragnalo. Willard made three great saves over the last five minutes to keep the score at 5-1. The game ended with Waterloo's Adam Metherel missing an empty net just before time expired.
Thunderwolves Head Coach Pete Belliveau said Waterloo played a very strong game. "They are a hard-working team, and to be honest, I think they outworked us for the first two periods, beating us to the loose pucks. It was 2-1 going into the third period, and anything could have happened. I don't think we gave 100% tonight, and that's what a coach wants, 100% effort in every game. "
The Molson's Three Stars, as chosen by CKPR/TBT Sports Director Bryan Wyatt were:
1)Jeff Adduono
2)Jason Lange
3)Bryan Duce
My Twolves Shoutouts goes to Shawn Perring for playing tough D, and generating some good scoring chances with his rushes into the Waterloo end. Also to Hugo Lehoux for playing another standout defensive game. Hugo really seems to be finding his form now in the OUA.
The teams take to the ice again Saturday night at 7:30 at the Fort William Gardens for the final game of the two game series.