In a spectacular goaltending duel, the Lakehead Thunderwolves were edged 2-1 by the Laurier Golden Hawks in an overtime shootout at the Sun Life Arena in Waterloo on Saturday night.
Both goalies, Nic Renyard for Lakehead and Chris Festarini for Laurier, were sharp in a scoreless first period that saw the Golden Hawks outshoot the Thunderwolves 16-11.
Lakehead had more chances in the second, outshooting Laurier 18-10, and Jake Ringuette broke the scoring drought on a deflection with 5:02 remaining in the middle frame with Sam Schutt getting the assist.
Dylan Butler took the first penalty of the game early in the third and the Hawks took advantage when Patrick Chore scored from the doorstep on a quick pass from behind the net at 3:17.
Daniel Del Paggio and Josh Laframboise had great chances to give the Wolves the go-ahead goal later in the period, but were both stymied by Festarini and the game was headed into overtime.
Renyard was outstanding in that five minutes of three-on-three play and made three brilliant saves on chances that could easily have ended the game, but forced a shootout instead.
Anthony Sorrentino beat Renyard high on the blocker side on the Hawks' first attempt. After Billy Jenkins and Brennen Dubchak both missed for Lakehead, Laurier's Andrew Fritsch sealed the deal with a shot that whistled past Renyard's glove.
Total shots on goal in the wide-open affair were 48-42 for the Golden Hawks.
The overtime loss gives Lakehead one point in the standings and an OUA record of 0-1-1 (2-3-1 overall).
Lakehead will return home for a pair of games with the UQTR Patriotes next weekend.