The No. 8 Western Mustangs completed the weekend sweep of the No. 5 Lakehead Thunderwolves with a 5-2 win before a standing room only crowd of 3837 fans Saturday afternoon at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay. The win gives the Mustangs the OUA Far West Division regular season title and a first round playoff bye.
Western's record goes to 17-6-0-1 in OUA play (22-11-0-1 overall) while Lakehead's record goes to 15-8-1 in OUA play (23-16-2-1 overall). Lakehead will begin the OUA playoffs on Wednesday against Guelph on Wedneday night in their OUA quarter final series with Game 2 at the Gardens on Friday night.
Lakehead played a much stronger game than Friday night's 5-0 shutout but again Western goaltender Mike D'Alessandro was very strong in goal, turning aside 40 of 42 Lakehead shots. Western fired 33 shots at Lakehead netminder Chris Whitley. Although the Thunderwolves had the edge in play and showed a lot of hustle, they seemed out of sync offensively and had difficulty converting on their offensive opportunities.
Western was led by Kevin Richardson with two goals while singles came from Mike Rice, Chris Rowan, and Jesse Boucher. Lakehead got its goals from Peter Cava and Jeff Richards.
The Three Stars, as chosen by Leith Dunick of Thunder Bay's Source, were:
1)Western: Mike D'Alessandro
2)Western: Chris Rowan
3)Lakehead: Peter Cava