The Lakehead Thunderwolves season was abruptly ended by the Waterloo Warriors Friday night in Thunder Bay, ON in game two of the west division quarterfinals by the score of 3-0.
Both teams came out a little timid early-on, not wanting to make any mistakes. Lakehead seemed intent on playing physical, especially Andy Hyvarinen and Brock McPherson, who both delivered some jarring hits early on. McPherson was all over the ice in the first, ripping a shot off the post towards the end of the period.
Waterloos Josh Schappert scored just 31 seconds into the second period, deflating the Thunderwolves and killing their first period momentum. Lakehead goaltender Alex Dupuis was strong, and made some big saves including one on a partial breakaway to keep Lakehead in the game.
The third period saw a flurry of action, with Lakehead dominating the Warriors. But the Wolves were unable to solve Waterloo goalie Keaton Hartigan, who was great all night, especially in the final minutes of the game. Waterloo captain Chris Ray high on the short side of Dupuis at 17:37 of the third to seal the game. Waterloo then added an empty-netter with barely any time on the clock.
The Molson 3 Stars of the game of were:
1.Keaton Hartigan, Waterloo
2.Chris Ray, Waterloo
3.Brock McPherson, Lakehead
This was the first time in ten years that Lakehead has been eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.