Laurier netminder Jeff MacDougald backstopped his No. 7 Golden Hawks to a thrilling 4-3 win over the Lakehead Thunderwolves in the night game of Day 3 action Friday night at the T Bay Tel Varsity Cup hockey tournament before 2885 fans at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay.
The win puts the Hawks into the tournament final against the Toronto Varsity Blues Saturday afternoon at 2:00 pm EST and the championship game will be videowebcast live with ordering info available on the Broadcast Page at www.thunderwolveshockey.com. Laurier and Toronto both posted 2-1 tourney records while Lakehead and Calgary went 1-2.
MacDougald was the story as he turned away 39 Lakehead shots; including a bushel of spectacular saves to get the win for the Hawks. Offensively, James Edgar scored two goals and added an assist while singles came from Luke Girard and Nick Vergeer. Both added an assist as well. Lakehead was led by a resurgent Mike Wehrstedt and Matt Jacques with a goal and an assist while Lakeheads other goal came from Jeff Richards. Andy Zulyniak added two assists. Chris Whitley played well in the Lakehead goal as Lauriers goals.
Shots on goal were 46-22 Lakehead. The Wolves were 2-10 on the powerplay while the Hawks went 2-7 with the man advantage.
Lakeheads captain Richards opened the scoring at 9:35 of the first when Lakehead was down two men. Mike Wehrstedt intercepted a Hawks pass and fed Richards who beat a Laurier d-man with a great fake and then fired it over MacDougalds right shoulder for the shorthanded tally. However, the Hawks still had the two-man advantage and quickly replied at 10:10 when Edgar scored his first after a great set-up from Ryan Courtney and Matt Grennier. Lauriers Mark Voakes rang the crossbar at the 16:00 mark and the score ended at one apiece at the end of the first. Lakehead outshot Laurier 13-10 in the first.
Lakehead had the edge in play in the second but MacDougald began his heroics in earnest. The Wolves Brock McPherson rang the post at 10:00 and then was totally robbed by MacDougald at the 13:00 mark as the Hawks netminder fired the glove to make a spectacular save. Lakeheads Tobias Whelan was all alone in front of the goal at the 17:00 mark; but again couldnt beat MacDougald even after making multiple fakes as the Laurier goalie again stood firm. MacDougald followed with another incredible save at 18:30 off of Lakeheads Mark Soares and again robbed the Wolves Richards all alone at the side of the net at 19:00. However, the Wolves finally broke through at 19:21 on the powerplay when a low shot from the point by Jacques beat MacDougald five-hole with assists going to Andy Zulyniak and Dan Speer. Lakehead outshot Laurier 13-8 in the third.
The Hawks offense came to life in the third and Edgar scored his second of the night on the powerplay at 3:31; beating Lakeheads Whitley high after a nice set up from Nick Vergeer. Lauriers Luke Girard then broke in alone on Whitley and fired it home at 6:11, with assists going to Adam Peacock and Adam Wood. The Hawks made it 4-2 at 17:03 on the powerplay; when Vergeer beat Whitley over the right shoulder with a one timer rocket set up by a great pass from Edgar and the other assist going to Girard.
It looked like it was all over for Lakehead but the Hawks drew two late minors and Lakehead pulled their netminder to play 6 skaters against 3. MacDougald then made a series of great saves to stymie the Wolves but Lakeheads Wehrstedt finally banged it in at 19:30, assisted by Zulyniak and Jacques. Lakehead still had a one-man advantage and kept their goalie pulled. However they couldnt beat MacDougald in the final wild 30 seconds as the Hawks hung on for the win. Lakehead outshot Laurier 16-8 in the final period.
The Molsons Three Stars, as chosen by CKPR News/Sports Director Bryan Wyatt, were:
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