The No. 8 Lakehead Thunderwolves skated to a 6-1 win over the University of Toronto Varsity Blues in the second game of Day 1 action at the sixth annual Lakehead Thunderwolves TBayTel Varsity Cup mens hockey tournament Thursday night at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay.
Lakehead was led by Kris Hogg with 2 goals and 1 assist and Tobias Whelan and Dan Speer with a goal and 2 assists apiece. Mark Soares had a goal and an assist while Lakeheads other marker came from Konrad Bruetsch; in his first game in a Lakehead jersey. Mike Wehrstedt and Brock McPherson each added two assists.
Julian Sarraino scored Torontos goal.
Shots on goal were 29-24 Lakehead on the night. Lakehead was 1-6 on the powerplay while Toronto was 0-10.
The Wolves played aggressive fast paced hockey from the get-go and kept the Blues on their heels for much of the game. However the skilled Blues had their chances, especially during their many man advantage opportunities. Lakehead netminder Kyle Moir made a number of good stops in the second and third to keep the score at what it was and Torontos Joe Rand hit a crossbar in the first period.
Dan Speer and Mark Soares connected for a beautiful goal in the second; with Soares converting a one-handed pass from Speer. Shandor Alphonso was the impact player on the ice for the Wolves; delivering a number of big hits, playing excellent defensively and turning a great defensive play into instant offense when he made a big hit; then intercepted a Toronto pass and stormed up the right wing to set up newcomer Bruetsch for his first Lakehead goal. The Wolves looked especially sharp for most of their penalty kills; due to fine play by the D-Corps and great defensive forward play by Alphonso, Bruetsch, Wehrstedt, and Brad Priestlay.
Scoring Summary:
Per: 1:
1)LK: 5:08 Dan Speer from Andrew Brown and Mark Soares
2)TO: 8:07 Julian Sarraino from Andrew Kicito and Brendan Sherrard
3)LK: 8:33 Tobias Whelan from Kris Hogg and Mike Wehrstedts
Per. 2:
4)LK: 1:30 Kris Hogg from Mike Wehrstedt and Tobias Whelan
5)LK: 3:28 Konrad Breutsch from Shandor Alphonso (SH)
6)LK: 10:55 Mark Soares from Dan Speer and Brock McPherson
Per. 3:
7)8:24: PP: Kris Hogg from Dan Speer and Brock McPherson
The Molsons Three Stars, as chosen by Bryan Wyatt of CKPR FM Radio, were:
1)Lakehead: Tobias Whelan
2)Lakehead: Dan Speer
3)Lakehead: Mark Soares
Day 2 tourney action will see the York Lions face off against Toronto Blues Friday afternoon at 4:00 pm EST and the No. 8 Thunderwolves square off against the No. 9 Bisons at 7:30 pm EST.
All games will be videowebcast live with ordering information available at http://events.news-cast.com/events/Lakehead. Viewers will need hi speed internet and Windows Media Player to watch the broadcasts.
TBay Tel Varsity Cup Remaining Schedule: (All Times Eastern Standard Time)
DATE VISITOR HOME TIME
12/28/2007 University of Toronto York University 4:00 PM
12/28/2007 University of Manitoba Lakehead University 7:30 PM
12/29/2007 University of Manitoba University of Toronto 4:00 PM
12/29/2007 York University Lakehead University 7:30 PM
12/30/2007 To Be Announced To Be Announced 7:30 PM