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Wolves edged by Mustangs

Fri Nov 28, 2014
Written by John Payetta
Photo by James Mirabelli

The Lakehead Thunderwolves were narrowly defeated 3-2 by the Western Ontario Mustangs in front of 2283 fans at the Fort William Gardens on Friday night.

Special teams played a key role in the outcome, accounting for all but one of the five goals scored in what was a very exciting match.

Lakehead opened the scoring 6:07 into the game on a power play goal by defenceman Nathan Bruyere who was playing in his first game after missing a month with a shoulder injury. Bruyeres slapper eluded Mustangs goalie Greg Dodds, with Jake Carrick and Ryan Magill picking up the assists.

Western Ontario replied while the Mustangs had the man-advantage when Steve Reese beat Wolves netminder Justin McDonald at 13:08.

Stefan Salituro scored the only even-strength goal of the game with just over two minutes remaining in the first period to give Western Ontario the 2-1 lead heading into the second.

The Mustangs extended their lead to 3-1 at 16:06 of the middle frame with another power play goal when Julian Cimadamore received a nice feed in the slot and quickly fired it past McDonald before he could get set.

Lakehead controlled most of the play in a penalty-filled third period, and narrowed the gap to 3-2 when Andrew Tessier found astreaking RyanMagill who broke through the Mustangs defenseand slipped the puck between Dodds legs for a beautiful short-handed goal at 12:26.

Despite applying more pressure, Lakehead was unable find the back of the net for the remainder of the contest.

The Molson Three Stars of the Game were:

1.Ryan Magill, Lakehead
2.Stefan Salituro, Western Ontario
3.Carson Dubchak, Lakehead

The Thunderwolves will look to exact a measure of revenge when the two teams take to the ice again on Saturday night. The opening face-off is set for 7:30 at the Fort William Gardens in Lakeheads last game before the Christmas exam break.