The Lakehead Thunderwolves defeated the Queens Gaels 7-6 in overtime Saturday night at the Kingston Memorial Centre despite leading never leading inthe game until the very end.
The first period was full of offensive fireworks with Queens scoring four times, but for each goal the Gaels scored, the Thunderwolves responded in kind.
The Gaels took an early lead, converting on the power play in the opening minute of the game after Brett Foy redirected a point shot past Lakehead goalie Justin McDonald. The Thunderwolvesanswered with a goal from Brennen Dubchak, with assists going to Jay Gilbert and E.J. Faust, but Queen's regained the advantage shortly after, capitalizing on their second power play of the night when Darcy Greenaway buried a backhand shot from the slot.
Lakehead's Cody Alcock knotted the score at 2-2 just 12 seconds later with the helpers going to Kelin Ainsworth and Keith Grondin.
Taylor Clements gave the Gaels the 3-2 advantage, but Brennen Dubchak replied after being set up by his brother Carson Dubchak and Faust to even the score at 3-3.
Patrick McGillis buried a wrist shot from the top of the circle at the 13:02 mark of the first, but the Thunderwolves continued to display resilience, tying the game up at 4-4 on the power play when Mike Quesnele scored after being set up by Cody Alcock and Carson Dubchak in the final seconds of the opening frame.
Oddly enough, neither side could find the score sheet in the second period after the offensive outburst in the first twenty minutes.
The back-and-forth affair resumed in the final frame as both teams exchanged goals to begin and end the period. Kris Grant put the Gaels ahead 5-4 at 4:43, but Kelin Ainsworth evened the score less than a minute later with Alcock and Grondin collecting the assists. The Gaels Greenaway registered the go-ahead goal with three minutes left to play, but once again Lakehead found the equalizer when Alcock buried a feed from Ainsworth in the final minute of regulation to force overtime.
Lakeheads Cody Kostecki became the hero when he scored just 1:12 into extra time to give Lakehead the 7-6 victory. Grondin and David Quesnele were credited with the assists on the Kosteckis game-winner.
Final shots on goal for the game were 43-40 in favor of Queen's. Gaels goaltender Kevin Bailie suffered the 32-save loss after replacing starter Chris Clarke in the first period, while Lakehead's Justin McDonald earned the 37-save victory.
The Thunderwolves will return home to wind up the first half of the season with a pair of games versus the Western Ontario Mustangs at the Fort William Gardens next weekend.