Tobias Whelan paced the Lakehead Thunderwolves mens hockey team to a thrilling 5-4 come-from-behind road OUA season opening win over the Waterloo Warriors at the Columbia Ice Fields arena in Waterloo, Ontario.
Whelan notched two goals and three assists while line-mates Jeff Richards and Mark Soares had a goal and 2 assists each. Dan Speer recorded the other Lakehead goal and played a solid game. Waterloos goals were scored by David Edworth, Kevin Hurley, Kyle Pellerin, and Sean Roche.
Lakehead Head Coach Pete Belliveau it was a big road win for the Wolves. Tonight was a continuation of our big road trip and we traveled far to get here and played hard. Our guys battled hard all night and came back from 4-2. We got fantastic play from our powerplay and PK units and came up with a big team win.
Waterloo had a 3-2 lead after a wild first period which saw them outshoot Lakehead 20-10. The Warriors made it 4-2 early in the second but then Lakeheads Chris Whitley tightened up from this point on and didnt allow another shot past.
Lakehead added two in the second to even it up heading into the third and Whelans second goal of the game on the powerplay at 13:10 proved to be Lakeheads only lead, and the game winner. Waterloo pulled netminder Curtis Darling in the final minute and came close but Lakehead goalie Chris Whitely stood tall to keep the Warriors at bay. Final shots were 43-31 Waterloo in the game.
Curtis Darling turned away 26 of 31 Lakehead shots while Chris Whitley stopped 39 of 43 Waterloo shots in the Lakehead goal.
The two teams take to the ice again Saturday night and it can be heard live in Thunder Bay on 580 CKPR AM radio and on the net at www.ckpr.com with CKPR News and Sports Director Bryan Wyatt calling all the action. Game times are 7:30 pm EST with pre-game show beginning at 7:15 pm.
Game Summary:
GOALS BY PERIOD
1 2 3 Total
Waterloo 3 1 0 4
Lakehead 2 2 1 5
SHOTS BY PERIOD
1 2 3 Total
Waterloo 20 10 13 43
Lakehead 10 9 12 31
SCORING SUMMARY
Period #1
Waterloo - Edgeworth (Mulholland, Philpott) - PP 07:06
Lakehead - Richards (Whelan, Soares) - Even 07:29
Waterloo - Hurley (Moir, Spooner) - PP 17:18
Lakehead - Soares (Whelan ) - Even 17:48
Waterloo - Pellerin (Della Mora ) - Even 18:23
Period #2
Waterloo - Roche (Philpott, Fazio) - Even 02:59
Lakehead - Speer (Kivell, Whelan) - Even 07:23
Lakehead - Whelan (Richards, Soares) - PP 15:54
Period #3
Lakehead - Whelan (Jacques, Richards) - PP 13:10