The Lakehead Thunderwolves hockey team is heading down to Oshawa this weekend for a pair of games with the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks at the Campus Ice Centre. Both Friday and Saturday nights games start at 7:30 p.m. and will be broadcast live on Rock 94.3 F.M.
Last Time Out
The Wolves are coming off a home series split with the Laurier Golden Hawks. After losing a high-scoring affair 6-5 to the Hawks on Friday night, Lakehead rebounded nicely with a strong performance and a 5-1 win on Saturday night.
Tight Division
The Thunderwolves currently sit in third place out of nine teams in the ultra-competitive OUA West Division with a record of 5-4-1; good for 11 points. But after division-leading Western Ontario, there are eight teams grouped closely together, with only 3 points separating second-place Laurier (11 points) with ninth-place York (8 points). Ontario Tech is currently in the middle with 9 points.
Series History
Lakehead is 6-1-1 all-time versus Ontario Tech, and its only loss and overtime loss to the Ridgebacks came last season. The two teams met in Oshawa last October, where the Wolves won easily 9-5 on the Friday night, only to lose 6-5 in overtime on Saturday. Ontario Tech travelled to Thunder Bay in February and took the Friday game by the identical 6-5 score, only this time it was in regulation time. The Wolves came back strong Saturday night and defeated the Ridgebacks 8-2.
About the Ridgebacks
Ontario Tech is relatively new to the OUA in only its fourth year in the league, and the Ridegbacks have shown steady improvement since the 2007-08 season. Players to watch up front are senior Captain Nathan Spalling, sophomore Scott Baker, and freshman Brendan Wise. The defensive corps is led by junior Chris Purves, and the goaltending duties have been split so far between sophomore Jason Guy and junior Jeff Dawson.