The No. 2 Lakehead Thunderwolves defeated the Windsor Lancers 7-2 before 2862 fans at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay on Friday night. The win raises Lakehead's OUA record to 10-2-1 (17-4-2 overall) and drops Windsor's record to 6-8 in OUA play (6-13 overall). Lakehead was lead by Captain Joel Scherban with a goal and two assists.
The Thunderwolves struck first at 36 seeconds when Captain Joel Scherban banged in the puck from the right side of the Windsor goal, set up by a nice pass from Mike Jacobsen. The other assist went to Murray Magill. Lakehead struck quickly again at 1:21 when Leon Cooper fired a quick low wrist shot that beat Windsor goaltender Scott Murray. The assists went to Jeff Adduono and Austin Wycisk. Kris Callaway made it 3-0 for Lakehead at 2:51 when his low point blast beat a screened Murray. The assist went to Scherban. The Lancers took a time out to recoup from the furious Lakehead attack.
There was then a minor skirmish after Windsor's Kyle Trudell cross-checked Lakehead's Leon Cooper outside the play and the referee's vision. Lakehead's Hugo Legoux took offense to the unseen infraction and a small tussle broke out resulting in two minors to Lakehead and one to Windsor. Windsor drew another minor and the teams were 4-on-4. Lakehead's Steve Rawski fired a hard wrist shot from the right point that was neatly tipped by Jason Lange past Murray at 6:47. Windsor Coach Vern Stenlund thought it prudent to replace Murray in goal with Reese Kalleitner. Murray Magill then made it 5-0 when he scored his fourth of the regular season at 9:59, whacking a puck in during a goalmouth scramble. The assist went to Scherban. Windsor's then Kalleitner made a great sliding save to rob Joel Scherban. Lakehead then went on a 5-on-3 powerplay with 4 minutes left. Kalleitner made a fine blocker save off a bullet shot by Lakehead's Bryan Duce. Lakehead outshot Windsor 22-6 in the first.
The Thunderwolves controlled play for the first five minutes of the second, keeping the Lancers pinned in their end. Windsor picked it up in the second quarter of the period and put some pressure on Lakehead. Lakehead went on the powerplay and Windsor's Kalleitner made a good stop off the Thunderwolves Bryan Duce parked beside the Lancer goal. Lakehead's Scherban then rang the right Windsor post. Lakehead then drew a minor but Chris Shaffer picked a Windsor d-man's pocket at the Lancer blue line and then broke in alone and beat Kalleitner over the right shoulder at 11:56 to make it 6-0. Lakehead's Murray Magill was tripped on a breakaway and awarded a penalty shot but Kalleitner stood his ground to keep the puck out of the Lancer goal. Action picked up in the final five minutes with both teams getting a couple good shots. Kalleitner then made two good stops off Lakehead's Jason Lange and Matt Kenny. Windsor got on the board with 17 seconds left in the second, when Rob Rosati lifted the puck over sprawled Lakehead goaltender Grant McCune, after McCune had made three fine stops in a row. Windsor outshot Lakehead 10-8 in the second.
The third started with Lakehead goaltender McCune robbing Windsor's Kyel Trudell with a great glove save. Lakehead then put on some pressure but couldn't develop any good chances. The play went back to the Thunderwolves end and McCune came up with another good glove save off Windsor's Gareth Hopes at the 5:00 mark. Windsor's Jordie Preston made it 6-2 at 8:04 when he picked off an errant Lakehead pass and snuck the puck around a sprawled McCune. Windsor controlled the tempo through the middle stretches but not much offense was developed. Lakehead then put on the pressure with 6 minutes left, but Kalleitner was again big in the goal; stopping a barrage of Lakehead shots. Lakehead's Jason Lange then undressed a Windsor d-man with a great fake and