The Lakehead Thunderwolves hockey team came back from a third period deficit to defeat the Brock Badgers 4-2 at the Seymour-Hannah Centre in St. Catharines, Ontario on Friday night.
After a scoreless first period, Lakeheads Andrew Wilkins put the Wolves up 1-0 on a shorthanded and unassisted goal at 3:22 of the second. Brock replied quickly when Jordan Gignac beat Thunderwolves goalie Alex Dupuis on the powerplay at the 4:20 mark. That was all the scoring in the middle stanza, and the teams headed into the dressing room deadlocked at 1-1 heading into the third period.
The Badgers took a 2-1 lead at 7:34 of the third on a goal by Anthony Geldart, but the lead didnt last long. Lakeheads Jake Carrick blasted one past Brock netminder Kurt Jory at 9:39 to tie the game up at 2-2. Assists on the goal went to Wilkins and Keith Grondin.
The game appeared to be headed for overtime, but Ryan McDonald netted the winner on a goal set up by Matt Caria and Mitch Maunu with only 58 seconds remaining in the final frame. Wilkins then fed Brennan Menard, who iced the game with an empty-netter with only 1 second left in the game to give the Thunderwolves the 4-2 victory.
The win puts Lakehead alone in second place in the OUA West Division with three games remaining in the regular season, and guarantees the Wolves home-ice advantage for at least the first round of the playoffs.
The Thunderwolves head next to London to take on the Western Ontario Mustangs on Saturday night. The opening face-off is set for 7:30, and the game will be broadcast live on Rock 94 FM.