The Lakehead Thunderwolves defeated the ST. FX X-Men 5-4 in a thrilling come-from-behind overtime win Sunday night at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay. The X-Men led by two goals twice in the game but the 'Wolves fought back twice to finally send it into OT. Murray Magill led the Thunderwolves with two goals including the game winner. Steve Rawski added two assists. Lakehead's other goals came from Chris Shaffer, Joel Scherban, and Austin Wycisk. St. FX was led by Eric Braff with two goals and the others came from Stuart MacRae and Blake Robson. Lakehead outshot St. FX 32-30 in the game. The win raises Lakehead's non-conference record to 5-2 and puts St.FX's at 0-4.
The Thunderwolves started out fast and the X-Men's Mike Mole had to come up with a quick glove save off the 'Wolves Joel Scherban. Lakehead then drew a penalty but they had the first good opportunity as Peter Cava broke in alone but couldn't beat Mole. Lakehead's Jason Lange just missed wide after the teams were back at even strength. The 'Wolves then went on the PP but it was StFX's Patrick Grandmaitre who had the first good scoring chance; which was stopped nicely by Lakehead netminder Grant McCune. The X-Men then went on the PP and came close on two opportunities. Action picked up and St. FX went on the PP again at the 11:58 mark. McCune stopped a hard shot by StFX's Blake Robson, and the puck then trickled by the Lakehead post. Lakehead then had the man advantage and Jason Lange fired a hard wrist shot over Mole's right shoulder and over the net. Lakehead's McCune then made a great deflection save off a blast by StFX's Wes Jarvis. Shots in the first were 9-8 Lakehead.
The first five minutes of the second featured end-to-end action. Lakehead started by drawing another minor penalty and the X-Men's Robson just missed from the slot as StFX put on the pressure. The 'Wolves Mark Robinson then came close but was denied by Mole. StFX then went back up the ice and put on the pressure with Robson firing wide. Lakehead's Murray Magill then missed an empty net when he fired it over the top of the X-Men's goal. The Lakehead line of Magill, Cava, and Sean Stefanski then kept the X-Men pinned in their end, but Mole was again sharp in the StFX net. The X-Men jumped on the scoreboard with a shorthanded marker by Eric Braff at 10:08. The assists went to Graeme Power and Patrick Grandmaitre. Lakehead's Magill was robbed by Mole with an incredible glove save and then the X-men stormed back up the ice and made it 2-0 at 11:40, when Robson fired the puck past a sprawled McCune. Assists went to Mathew Lynn and Collin Circelli. The X-Men then went on the PP again and peppered the Lakehead net, but McCune kept the puck out. Lakehead's Self came out of the penalty box and was fed beautifully by a long pass from Jeff Richards. Self centred the puck to a streaking Joel Scherban who broke in alone on Mole and beat him with the fake and backhanded it home at 16:21. StFX came right back at 17:39, when Stuart MacRae knocked it in from the slot. Assists went to Shawn Snider and Tyler Dyck. The period ended with a spate of penalties to both sides. Shots on goal were 11-10 for StFX in the second.
The 'Wolves started the third on the PP but couldn't develop any offense. The X-Men's Mole came up with some good saves early, including a great glove save off a point blast by Lakehead's Dene Poulin. Joel Scherban then picked a high centering pass down with his glove in front of the StFX goal and whacked it with a backhander that rang the post. Lakehead then went on the powerplay and Jason Lange fired a rocket over the StFX goal. Steve Rawski fired a blast from the left of the X-Men goal that just missed but the puck bounced off the backboards to Chris Shaffer whofired it in past Mole at 5:25. Assists went to Rawski and Scherban. The 'Wolves' kept up the pressure and Lange fired a hard shot that deflected off Mole's mask and int