Keyed by effective special teams and sound defence, The Lakehead Thunderwolves hockey team defeated the Laurier Golden Hawks 3-1 at the Sun Life Arena in Waterloo, Ontario Friday night.
The Thunderwolves controlled the play for much of the scoreless first period, one in which Lakehead outshot Laurier 13-7.
The Wolves broke the game open in the second stanza with a pair of powerplay goals less than a minute apart. The first one was scored by Adam Sergerie at the 6:35 mark, with assists going to OUA leading-scorer Matt Caria and freshman defenceman Mitch Fillman. Then at 7:06, the second powerplay unit put Lakehead up 2-0 when Ryan McDonald got on the board after returning to the line-up after missing several games due to injury. Assists on McDonalds goal were credited to Jadran Beljo and Mike Hammond.
The second period was completely dominated by the Thunderwolves, outshooting the Golden Hawks by a margin of 17-2 in the middle frame.
Lakehead scored its third special teams goal of the night at 7:59 of the third period when Sergerie scored his second goal of the game; this time beating Laurier goalie Ryan Daniels on a short-handed effort assisted once again by Caria.
Laurier spoiled Wolves goaltender Alex Dupuis shutout bid at 18:30 on a goal by Zackory Ray, making the final score 3-1 in favor of Lakehead.
The Hawks outshot the Wolves 7-5 in the third, but Lakehead dominated Laurier in the shots on goal totals for the game by a 35-16 margin.
The two teams will take to the ice again on Saturday night beginning at 7:30. The game will once again be broadcast live on Rock 94 FM.