The Lakehead Thunderwolves were downed 7-1 by the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs in exhibition play at the Amsoil Centre in Duluth, MN on Monday night.
The Bulldogs opened the scoring when Carson Soucy knocked in a rebound that eluded Lakehead starting goaltender Jeff Bosch just 3:33 into the game. Assists were credited to Kyle Osterberg and Justin Crandall.
Crandall extended the UMD lead to 2-0 when he tapped in a loose puck with just over two minutes remaining in the period. Assists went to Ostergberg and Andy Welinkski.
Both teams created their share of scoring chances in the opening frame, with UMD barely outshooting the Thunderwolves by a 15-14 margin.
Lakeheads Jake Carrick narrowed the margin to 2-1 when he banged in a rebound on the power play at 6:18 of the second period. Mitch Fillman and Matt Kaarela assisted on the goal.
Freshman netminder Justin McDonald replaced Jeff Bosch in the Lakehead goal midway through the second period after Bosch suffered a knee injury.
The Bulldogs restored their two-goal lead with four minutes left in the middle stanza when Osterberg beat McDonald on a feed from Sammy Spurrell, giving UMD a 3-1 lead heading into the third period.
The Bulldgos picked up the pace in the middle stanza, outshooting Lakehead 19-7.
UMD came out of the gate quickly in the third when Joe Basaraba ripped one past McDonald from just inside the blue line at the 40-second mark. Less than a minute later, the Bulldogs Dominic Toninato knocked in a rebound to make it 5-1 for UMD. Then before the period was even five minutes old, a marker by Austin Farley and another by Toninato extended the Bulldogs lead to 7-1.
UMD was dominant in the final frame, peppering the Lakehead goal and outshooting the Wolves 19-2. The total shots on goal for the game were 53-23 in favor of the Bulldogs.
The Thunderwolves will return home to open the OUA regular season against the RMC Paladins at the Fort William Gardens on Friday night.