The Lakehead Thunderwolves will host the Western Mustangs in a key matchup this weekend as the OUA regular season enters the home stretch. The opening face-off is set for 7:00 p.m. at the Fort William Gardens on both Friday and Saturday nights.
The Records
Lakehead: 10-8-2 OUA (6th place West Division)
Western: 7-9-3 OUA (9th place West Division)
Recent Results
The Thunderwolves swept York on the road last weekend, defeating the Lions 5-2 on Friday and 3-2 on Saturday. Those two wins bucked the recent trend as Lakehead had lost 14 of the previous 15 contests versus the Lions.
Western dropped two games last weekend, a 7-3 drubbing at Laurier on Friday night, followed by a 4-2 home loss to Brock on Saturday.
Series History
The Mustangs are the only team in the OUA West Division with a winning record against the Thunderwolves as Lakehead is 30-46-1 all-time versus Western.
The Wolves took two-out-of-three over the Mustangs last season, however, as the two teams traded 4-2 wins with each other before Lakehead downed Western 5-1 in the regular-season finale in London.
Dynamic Duo
Lakehead forwards Daniel Del Paggio and Tomas Soustal continue to shine as Del Paggio sits in 7th place among the OUA’s top scorers with 26 points, with Soustal tied for 10th spot with 25 points.
About the Mustangs
Western is led up front by freshman forward Franco Sproviero who has notched 27 points in just 17 regular-season games this year, good for 6th place in league scoring. Not far behind is Ethan Szypula with 25 points, who is tied with Soustal in 10th position.
The Mustangs have a pair of top-tier defencemen in Ryan Bechtel and Stephen Desrocher.
Senior goaltender Luke Peresinni has not performed to his usual standards this season, posting a 4.28 GAA to go along with an .878 SV%.