The No. 3 Lakehead Thunderwolves swept the No. 6 York Lions with a crushing 8-3 win before 3710 screaming fans at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay Saturday night. The win puts Lakehead's record at 6-1-0 in OUA play (10-2-0 overall). The loss drops York's record to 6-2-0 in OUA play. The Thunderwolves bombarded the Lions' goaltenders with 53 shots in the game.
Lakehead was led by Erik Lodge with two goals and Robert Hillier and Jeff Richards with a goal and two assists each. Chris Shaffer, Austin Wycisk, and Steve Rawski added a goal and an assist each. Leon Cooper and Murray Magill added two assists each. Lakehead's potent powerplay was at the forefront, accounting for4 of the 8 Thunderwolves' goals. York's goals came from Jason Pinizzotto, Daryl Bat, and Jerry Connell.
The Thunderwolves came out fast again in the first two minutes, peppering York goaltender Derek Dolson and keeping the Lions pinned in their own end. Lakehead's Murray Magill missed a glorious opportunity at 2:40 when he lost control of the puck after he had put a fake on Dolson. But, a penalty to Lakehead proved costly as the Lions took the lead at 4:16 when Julian Smith scored off a nice pass from Jason Pinizzotto. Lakehead Austin Wycisk rang the right Lions' post soon after that. York jumped out to a 2-0 lead at 6:37 when Phil Knapp scored off a beautiful, long, lead pass from Daryl Bat. York goalie Dolson then made a great pad save off Lakehead's Jeff Richards who was alone in front of the Lion's net. Dolson then made an incredible diving glove save to save a sure goal off Lakehead's Wycisk. A penalty to York's Knapp proved costly as Lakehead's Chris Shaffer got the Thunderwoves on the board at 13:47, set up by great hustle and a great pass from Jeff Richards. Shaffer's goal fired up the Wolves and they began to pressure the Lions again but couldn't put the puck past Dolson. Lakehead outshot York 21-7 in the first but Derek Dolson was the story of this period.
The second started with York on the powerplay but the Lions couldn't get anything going. Lakehead then started to put the pressure on from the 2:00 mark. York's Rich Williams bounced one of the post during a Lions' powerplay at the 5:30 mark. Lakehead's Steve Rawski then crushed Williams along the boards with a heavy hit. Lakehead's Jeff Richards then scored an incredible powerplay goal at 8:40. Richards carried the puck past two York defenders, was knocked down in front of the Lions' net, but continued to control the puck while seated and fired the puck past Dolson. Assists went to Shaffer and Bryan Duce. Penalties were proving York's undoing as Lakehead's Erik Lodge gave the Thunderwolves the lead at 12:33 when he fired a blast from the point that beat a screened Dolson. Lakehead's Lodge then had a case pf dj vu, scoring another powerplay goal from the same spot with a wicked blast that beat Dolson at 14:15. Assists went to Murray Magill and Robert Hillier. The Thunderwolves' Austin Wycisk made it 5-2 when he beat Dolson with a wicked wrister over the York netminder's left shoulder, with assists going to Leon Cooper and Steve Rawski. York's Jerry Connell replied at 18:39, set up nicely by James Carney and Rich Kearns. Lakehead outshot York 15-5 in the second period.
The third started with the Lions on the powerplay and Julian Smith just missed early on, sliding the puck wide past Lakehead goaltender Grant McCune. Right after that, Lakehead struck back when Robert Hillier beat York's Dolson with a deke and then put the puck past the down and out goalie. The assist went to Wyatt Tunnicliffe. Lakehead's Wycisk then rang the post with a hard low shot. Lakehead's Mike Wehrsted then knocked in the Thunderwolves' seventh goal, pouncing on a rebound off a great rush by Jeff Richards at 6:28. The assist went to<