Victor Anilane scored twice, and Kyle Moir made 24 saves en route to his first shutout of the 2009-10 season as the Lakehead Thunderwolves men's hockey team beat the visiting Brock Badgers 4-0, Friday night at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
The CIS seventh-ranked Wolves entered the contest sitting one point back of the CIS sixth-ranked Badgers and two points behind the Laurier Golden Hawks in the race for first in the competitive OUA West Division. With the win, Lakehead (4-0-1 OUA, 6-0-1 overall) now sits tied for first with the Golden Hawks and Waterloo Warriors at nine points. Brock drops their first contest of the OUA regular season and is 4-1-0 in OUA play (4-5-0 overall).
The Badgers established their stingy defensive style of play in the first period, keeping the Thunderwolves off the board despite a few decent chances.
Lakehead started the second period with a flurry of goal-scoring opportunities before freshman forward Victor Anilane ignited the Gardens crowd with a huge hit on Badgers blueliner Joe Tolles. Minutes later, at 9:13, Brock McPherson opened the game's scoring when he tipped the puck past the outstretched leg of Brock goalie Mark Yetman on the doorstep. Dan Speer and Andrew Wilkins got the assists.
The Wolves scored again at 10:55 when Jordan Smith's point shot was redirected past Yetman by Anilane for his second goal of the year.
Just a minute later, it was 3-0 Thunderwolves after Adam Sergerie one-timed a Gretzky-like saucer pass from Andy Hyvarinen into the net. Kris Hogg got the second assist.
Lakehead's jubilation was tempered late in the period when McPherson took a shot off his right leg during a penalty kill late in the period. The senior forward remained on the ice for several seconds before limping to the dressing room. He would return for the third period.
In the final frame, a brawl erupted two minutes in when Brock forward Ryan Allen was high sticked by Brennan Menard. Allen stayed down for several minutes and was tended to by trainers before skating off the ice with some help.
Anilane tallied the final goal of the game at 12:24 with a beautiful deke past a sprawling Yetman. Dobben and Baird added the helpers.
The Thunderwolves and Badgers will close their two-game set Saturday night, 7:30pm at the Fort William Gardens.