The Lakehead Thunderwolves kicked off the OUA season tonight, losing 4-3 to defending champion McGill Redmen on Friday night at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
Lakehead came out in the first with an obvious game plan of keeping it simple and playing smart, defensive hockey. It didnt take long for the Wolves to get the crowd into it, as Trevor Gamache scored on a wrap-around just 55 seconds into the game, assisted by Ryan McDonald and Matt Caria. The top-line was flying in the first period, and Alex Dupuis made plenty of big stops to keep Lakehead in front.
Matt Caria hammered McGill forward Nicolas Biniek in front of the players bench in what was without a doubt the hit of the year so far. Lakehead kept the Redmen on their toes as they found themselves on a 5-on-3 power-play, and Ryan McDonald made no mistake on a beautiful cross-ice feed from Caria to put the Wolves in front 2-0. The other assist was credited to Kalvin Sagert.
The second period brought some spirited play from both sides, with Lakehead continuing their smart, positional game, while McGill tried to get on the board. McGills Marc-Olivier Vachon finally scored at 4:31 of the second period after breaking in and beating Thunderwolves goaltender Alex Dupuis far side. Dupuis made some huge saves to keep the Wolves in front, but after a flurry of penalties to both sides, McGill evened things up while down two-men after Maxime Langelier-Parent beat Wolves defender Mike Quesnele to a loose puck and made to mistake putting it past Dupuis. McGills Alexandre Picard-Hooper later flipped the puck past Dupuis to put the Redmen in front 3-2 heading into the third period.
Both teams came out hard in the third period, with neither side giving an inch of ice. Lakehead was concentrating on putting the puck on net and increasing their scoring chances. The hard work paid off when Caria won a face-off in the McGill end, danced behind the net and fed Trevor Gamache in front - who made no mistake burying his second goal of the game, evening things up at 3-3. Not long after, McGill defenseman Nicolas Therrien put the Redmen back in front 4-3 after his shot deflected off Wolves defenseman Danick Malouins stick. That goal sealed the deal for the Redmen.
Both teams are back at it on Saturday night at the Fort William Gardens. Puck drop at 7:30PM.