The Lakehead Thunderwolves were edged 5-4 by the Ryerson Rams at the Mattamy Athletic Centre in Toronto Saturday afternoon in an exciting contest that saw several momentum shifts.
The first period was a wide-open affair with some good scoring chances by both sides, but the goaltenders - Justin McDonald for Lakehead and Troy Passingham for the Rams - were up to the task early on, although they each had some help from the goalposts.
David Quesnele got the Wolves on the board with just over a minute remaining in the period when he flipped the puck over a sprawled Passingham after receiving a pass from Brennen Dubchak near the goalmouth.
Lakehead extended its lead to 2-0 early in the second period when E.J. Faust wired a laser past Passingham, with the assists going to Carson and Brennen Dubchak.
Ryerson narrowed the gap to one when Daniel Clairmont replied for the Rams 44 seconds later.
The Thunderwolves restored their two-goal lead at the 7:00 mark when Keith Grondin found Mike Hammond all alone in the deep slot. Hammond took his time and fired a hard wrist shot that beat Passingham high on the glove side.
Ryerson began to take control of the play in the latter half of the period and cut Lakeheads lead to one when Andreas Tsogkas banged home a rebound at 13:19.
The momentum swing was palpable just over two minutes later when the Rams Kyle Blainey fired the puck past McDonalds outstretched glove from right in front to tie the game at 3-3 after 40 minutes.
Clairmont put the Rams ahead 4-3 at 7:10 of the third period after finding himself alone on the doorstep and firing the puck past McDonald.
The Wolves turned the tide after finding themselves behind for the first time in the game and tied it up at 4-4 when Carson Dubchak scored on a hard slap shot from the slot at 16:28, with Mike Quesnele and Ryan Magill picking up the helpers.
Ryerson defenceman Alex Basso notched the winner at 18:03 with an absolute rocket of a slap shot from just inside the blue line.
Total shots on goal in the game were 40-32 in favor of the Rams.
The loss was Lakeheads fourth in a row and with an OUA record 8-13-2, puts the Wolves playoff hopes in a precarious position.
The Thunderwolves will return home next weekend for their final home games of the regular season against a Guelph team that is also fighting for a spot in the post-season.