Let sleeping dogs lie. That saying might just as well apply to Wolves too, asthe Badgers discovered Saturday night at the Fort William Gardens where Lakehead pounded Brock 8-1 in front of 2207 fans to avenge a 4-2 loss the previous evening.
The Thunderwolves woke up early, scoring four unanswered goals in the first period to put the Badgers back on their heels from the get go.
Nathan Cull drew first blood for Lakehead by firing a shot that beat Brock goaltender Adrian Volpe down low, with Trevor Hynnes and David Quesnele getting the assists.
Kelin Ainsworth quickly made it 2-0 on a high, hard wrist shot set up by Jay Gilbert.
Ryan Magill converted on an odd-man rush after being fed by Luke Maw and Mike Hammond, and then with only 16 seconds left in the period, Gilbert made it 4-0 for Lakehead on a point shot that found its way through traffic into the back of the net, with the assists going to Keith Grondin and Hammond.
The Wolves continued the onslaught in the second period when Hammond pounced on a point-shot from Gilbert and beat Volpe top shelf at the 1:26 mark.
Less than a minute later, E.J. Faust found a streaking Carson Dubchak who made it 6-0 for the Wolves, with Maw collecting the other assist.
Grondin fired a shot from the slot past a beleaguered Volpe at 13:46, who was then replaced by Clint Windsor in the Badgers net. Trevor Hynnes and Hammond picked up the helpers on the goal that gave Lakehead a 7-0 lead heading into the third period.
The Wolves wisely played the final frame close to the vest, and Lakehead netminder Justin McDonald was rock-solid throughout the contest when called upon. But Brocks Dylan MacEachern broke McDonalds shutout bid with a rebound off the back glass at the 4:14 mark.
Less than two minutes later, Brennen Dubchak finished off a nice set-up from Hammond to put the Wolves up 8-1 and round out the scoring for the game.
The Thunderwolves outshot Brock 42-37 on the night, and the win moves Lakehead into fourth place in the ten-team OUA West Division.
The Molson Three Stars of the game were:
1.Mike Hammond, Lakehead
2.Jay Gilbert, Lakehead
3.Keith Grondin, Lakehead
The Wolves will remain at home and have an extra day of rest with only one game on the schedule next weekend. Lakehead will host the McGill Redmen Saturday night at the Fort William Gardens in the annual teddy bear toss game