The CIS No. 6 Lakehead Thunderwolves mens hockey dropped a hard-fought 3-1 decision to the No. 4 Laurier Golden Hawks Friday night at the Sun Life Financial Arena in Waterloo, Ontario.
Lakehead now has a 16-5-1-1 OUA record (22-10-1-1 overall); while the division leading Hawks go to 19-4-1 in OUA play.
Lakeheads goal came from Brock McPherson while OUA scoring leader Jean-Michel Rizk scored the hat trick for the Hawks.
Lakehead had the 1-0 lead on McPhersons goal but the Hawks Rizk notched one late in the second to even the score, one midway through the third to take the lead, and finally put in the empty-netter as the Wolves tried to find the equalizer.
Lakehead played a solid game and outshot the Hawks 38-27 but Laurier netminder Jeff MacDougald made a number of good saves, including two big ones off Lakeheads Scott Dobben and Matt Maisonneuve in the third, to get the win for the Hawks. Lakeheads Chris Whitely also played well in the loss.
Lakehead was 1-4 on the powerplay while Laurier was 1-5. The loss puts Lakeheads losing streak at four games; tying the record for most consecutive regular season losses set in 2004-05 and 2006-07.
The two teams face off again Saturday at 7:30 pm EST in Waterloo and fans can listen to the games live in Thunder Bay on Rock94 FM radio and online at www.rock94.com. Rock94 Sports Director Bryan Wyatt will be calling the action live.
Game Summary:
Lakehead 1 at Laurier 3
Feb 6, 2009 - Sun Life Arena, Waterloo Recreation Complex
1st Period
Scoring - 1. Lakehead, B. McPherson (16) (D. Speer, A. Hyvarinen) 17:54 PP
Penalties - M. Maisonneuve Lkhd (hooking) 1:16, R. Baird Lkhd (interference) 7:22, C. Williams Wlu (high sticking) 11:25, R. Bellows Wlu (roughing) 16:35, K. Hogg Lkhd (holding) 19:55
2nd Period
Scoring - 2. Laurier, J. Rizk (20) (N. Vergeer, C. Voakes) 15:35 PP
Penalties - B. McPherson Lkhd (cross checking) 4:21, M. Voakes Wlu (unsportsmanlike cnd.) 4:21, D. Kivell Lkhd (high sticking) 11:09, C. Pettapiece Wlu (roughing) 11:09, M. Maunu Lkhd (hooking) 14:05, R. Bernardi Wlu (holding) 16:26
3rd Period
Scoring - 3. Laurier, J. Rizk (21) (M. Voakes, R. Bellows) 9:10
4. Laurier, J. Rizk (22) (C. Williams, C. Kennedy) 19:59 EN
Penalties - D. Kivell Lkhd (holding) 4:24, C. Pettapiece Wlu (hooking) 10:16
LKHD Shots: 15 14 9 TOTAL: 38
WLU Shots: 7 11 9 TOTAL: 27
Power Play Conversion
Lakehead 1-4.
Laurier 1-5.
Goaltenders
Lakehead
Whitley 8-3-0-0 Start: 1st 0:00 Min: 59:10 SV: 24 GA: 2 [L]
Laurier
MacDougald 19-3-1-0 Start: 1st 0:00 Min: 60:00 SV: 37 GA: 1 [W]