The CIS No. 10 Lakehead Thunderwolves mens hockey team earned a 2-0 sweep of their OUA best-of-three first round playoff series with a 6-2 road win over the No. 9 Warriors Saturday night at the Columbia Ice Fields Arena in Waterloo.
Lakehead now has a 20-8-1-1 overall OUA record (2-0 OUA play0ffs) and 26-11-1-1 overall; while Waterloo ends the season with an overall OUA mark of 18-9-0-3 (0-2 playoffs).
The Wolves controlled much of the play in the first two periods; building up a 5-0 lead over the Warriors. However, Waterloo did not give up and they played very well in the third period; notching two goals before Lakehead salted away the win with an empty netter.
Lakehead was led by Andrew Brown with a goal and three assists. Kris Hogg added a pair of goals while Lakeheads other tallies came from Mark Soares and Scott Dobben with Brock McPherson firing a long-distance empty netter to ice the game. Jordan Smith played a strong defensive game for the Wolves and added 2 assists.
Waterloos goals came from Kyle Sonnenburg and Doug Spooner.
Final shots on goal were 29-26 Waterloo. Wolves fifth-year senior netminder and reigning OUA MVP Chris Whitley played another great game and won his second of the playoffs and fourth consecutive win; turning aside 24 Waterloo shots.
Tonight was a double record tying and record setting night for Whitley; as he tied former Wolves netminder Grant McCune's playoff wins record of 15 and this weekend set a new playoff appearances mark of 26. Whitley also tied McCunes All Time Lakehead overall wins mark of 81. So, another playoff win will set two new records for Whitley.
Pier Pelletier took the loss for the Warriors; stopping 12 Lakehead shots and allowing 5 goals. Backup Kevin Hartigan took over between the pipes in the third for Waterloo and didnt allow a goal; stopping 8 Lakehead shots.
Lakehead was 1-2 on the powerplay while Waterloo was 1-8. However, Lakeheads Kris Hoggs shorthanded goal at 18:28 of the first period could have been the turning point of the game as Hogg stole the puck at centre ice and stormed in to beat Waterloo netminder Pier Pelletier. Mark Soares also scored a shorthanded breakaway goal at 8:40 of the second to really shock the Warriors.
Lakehead is waiting to see who its opponent will be in the second round of the OUA playoffs; as Guelph tied their series with No. 5 Western with a big 2-1 OT win. That series will be decided Sunday in London.
Regardless of the opponent, whether its Laurier or York, it will be a best-of-three series beginning Wednesday night at 7:30 pm EST at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay.
Game Summary:
Lakehead 6 at Waterloo 2 - Status: End of Game
Feb 21, 2009 - Columbia Ice Field
1st Period
Scoring -
1. Lakehead, A. Brown (2) (J. Smith) 6:29 PP
2. Lakehead, K. Hogg (1) 18:28 SH
Penalties - A. Alphonso Lkhd (cross checking) 5:13, S. Hart Wat (high sticking) 5:13, K. Sonnenburg Wat (holding opp. stick) 5:31, K. Hogg Lkhd (high sticking) 9:02, K. Thorner Wat (tripping) 12:03, A. Brown Lkhd (hooking) 16:34, R. Baird Lkhd (tripping) 19:58
2nd Period
Scoring
3. Lakehead, K. Hogg (2) (J. Smith, A. Brown) 3:57
4. Lakehead, M. Soares (1) (A. Brown) 8:40 SH
5. Lakehead, S. Dobben (1) (A. Brown) 14:34
Penalties - K. Sagert Lkhd (tripping) 4:33, A. Sergerie Lkhd (interference) 7:14, K. Hogg Lkhd (high sticking, 10-minute misconduct) 16:34, M. Maunu Lkhd (holding) 16:34, S. Whitely Wat (cross checking, 10-minute misconduct) 16:34, D. Kivell Lkhd (interference) 18:38
3rd Period
Scoring
6. Waterloo, K. Sonnenburg (1) (J. Brenner, K. Thorner) 5:55
7. Waterloo, D. Spooner (2) (K. Sonnenburg, C. Ray) 15:35 PP EN
8. Lakehead, B. McPherson (3) 18:28 EN
Penalties - A. Alphonso Lkhd (hooking) 6:43, K. Hogg Lkhd (hooking) 13:47
LKHD Shots: 10 7 9 TOTAL: 26
WAT Shots: 4 9 16 TOTAL: 29
Power Play Conversion
Lakehead 1-2.
Waterloo 1-8.
Goaltenders
Lakehead
Whitley 2-0-0-0 Start: 1st 0:00 Min: 60:00 SV: 27 GA: 2
Waterloo
Pelletier 0-1-1-0 Start: 1st 0:00 Min: 40:00 SV: 12 GA: 5
Hartigan 0-0-0-0 Start: 3rd 0:00 Min: 20:00 SV: 8 GA: 0