The Lakehead Thunderwolves will take on the York Lions in a pair of games at the Fort William Gardens this weekend, with the opening face-off set for 7:00 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday nights.
The Matchup
Lakehead: 10-10-1 OUA (7th place West Division), 12-14-1 overall (6-9-1 home, 6-5 away).
York: 15-6-2 OUA (2nd place West Division), 19-9-2 overall (11-4 home, 8-5-2 away).
Last Time Out
Lakehead is coming off a home sweep of Laurentian as the Wolves edged the Voyageurs 4-3 in overtime last Friday, followed by a decisive 5-2 victory the following evening.
York picked up two home wins over East Division opponents last weekend. The Lions downed Queens 5-4 in O.T. in the Friday contest, and then nipped Ontario Tech 2-1 on Saturday.
Series History
Lakehead holds a significant edge over York in the all-time series between the two teams with a record of 34-15 against the Lions.
York has had some recent success over the Wolves, as Lakehead played at York twice last season and dropped two close matches. The first was a 3-2 overtime loss in early December, followed by a 3-1 defeat in late January.
Senior Leadership
Lakehead is getting good production from the teams upperclassmen as fifth-year seniors Kelin Ainsworth and Carson Dubchak, along with senior Cody Alcock are the Wolves top three scorers.
About the Lions
York ended the 2015-16 regular season on top of the OUA West Division standings, completing a worst-to-first turnaround after finishing in last place the previous year. But the top-seeded Lions were eliminated by crosstown rival Toronto in the first round of the playoffs, ending their Cinderella season rather abruptly.
Yorks resurgence has continued in 2016-17, as second-year Head Coach Chris Dennis has the Lions only three points out of first place coming into this weekend.
Forward Trevor Petersen and defenceman Derek Sheppard lead the Lions in scoring with 25 points each, but much of Yorks success has been due to the Lions' league-low 48 goals against. York also has the fewest penalty minutes of any team in the West Division.
Yorks goaltending duo of freshmen Mack Shields and Alex Fotinos are both ranked in the top ten in OUA goalie stats at second and eighth respectively.