Head coach Joel Scherbans team responded to their Friday night loss in a big way, winning by an emphatic 8-2 margin to split their series and their season series with the UOIT Ridgebacks, Saturday night at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay. The win moves Lakehead (18-6-2) into a two-way tie with Western for second place in the OUA West. UOIT (10-15-1) continues to cling the eighth and final divisional playoff spot.
On Senior Night fifth-year forward Scott Dobben (Drayton, Ontario) stepped up with two goals and an assist to lead the LU offence while junior Kris Hogg (Sicamous, British Columbia) had a stellar game with one goal and three assists.
Ryan McDonald (Prince Albert, Saskatchewan), Kalvin Sagert (Abbotsford, British Columbia), Mark Soares (Burnaby, British Columbia), Matt Dias (Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario) and Dan Speer (Thunder Bay) also tallied for Lakehead which mustered 44 shots and scored four goals apiece against Ridgebacks goalies Jason Guy and Jeff Dawson.
Josh Vatri and Scott Baker scored the UOIT goals with both players adding an assist.
Special teams were again a factor in the win as Lakehead when an unblemished 3-3 on the powerplay while UOIT was 1-3 with the man advantage.
After surrendering six goals on Friday, Thunderwolves netminder Kyle Moir (Calgary) settling down and was solid in making 32 saves on 34 shots. Guy was the starter for the Ridgebacks but was sent packing after Soares goal made it 4-2 Wolves at 7:38 of the second period. Dawson didnt fare much better in net as McDonald scored less than two minutes after the Ridgebacks backup entered the game as the Thunderwolves rallied for five consecutive goals to end the contest.
Lakehead will head south to close their conference schedule with a Friday game at Laurier in Waterloo, Ontario before facing Brock in St. Catharines, Ontario on Saturday.