The Lakehead Thunderwolves lost 4-2 to the York Lions Friday night at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay, ON.
Lakehead got off to a rough start when Yorks Adam Stuart beat theWolves starting goalie Alex Dupuisjust 29 seconds into the gameto put York in from 1-0.
Lakehead had their chances in the opening period, but York goalie David Blair came up with some big saves, as he continued to do throughout the game.
The second period started off the same as the first for York as Ben Alavie fired a shot past Dupuis to put the Lions in front 2-0 at 1:36. It was a chippy period with both teams trading trips to the penalty box. Lakehead had trouble gaining any type of momentum and fell behind 3-0when York forward Mackenzie Micks scored on Dupuis at 13:14 of the second.
Lions defenseman Jeff Matheson increased the York lead to 4-0 at 4:45 of the thirdwhen he beat Lakehead goaltender Kyle Moir, who replaced Dupuis after the third York goal. That was the only puck that would get by Moir, as he was solid in net for the remainder of the game, coming up with several big saves for theWolves in the third period.
Lakehead finally solved Blair and got on the boardat 9:01 of the third,when Jadran Beljo scored his first goal as a Thunderwolf on a penalty shot after being hauled down by a York defender on a breakaway. That sparked the Wolves comeback attempt, and later Mitch Maunu narrowed the gap to4-2 on a short-handed goal assisted by Adam Sergerie at the 15:00 mark. But that was as close at the Wolves would get. Late penalties to Kalvin Sagert and Mike Quesnele didnt help the Wolves cause.
Both teams meet again on Saturday night at 7:30 PM at the Fort William Gardens.