(By Mike St. Jean: Argus Sports Editor) The OUA Far West division rival Lakehead Thunderwolves and Western Mustangs have a history of tough, competitive games against one another, and Saturday nights game at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay, Ontario definitely illustrated that fact, to say the least.
Saturdays contest, which was the last game of the OUA mens hockey regular season, saw the Wolves battle past the Mustangs to a 4-3 overtime victory in a game which was as rough as it was exciting. Coming off of Friday nights 5-1 victory over Western, the Wolves were looking to end their season with a victory in hopes of gaining home ice advantage for the first round of the OUA playoffs, something that was nullified as Waterloo, the team Lakehead was battling for the coveted 4th seed in the Western conference, managed to scrape out a 1-0 win over Windsor on Saturday night, allowing them to pull ahead of the Wolves, who in turn wound up 5th.
With the victory, Lakehead finishes the season 18-8-1-1 in OUA play (24-12-1-1 overall), while Westerns loss moves the team to 19-8-1 in OUA play, good enough for 2nd in the conference.
Westerns potent offense clicked right out of the gate, as fifth year senior Sal Peralta snapped his 9th goal of the season past Lakehead netminder Chris Whitley just 1:05 into the game, giving the Stangs a 1-0 lead. It would be short lived, however, as Lakehead freshman defenseman Kalvin Sagert was able to knot the game at 1-1 just 1:54 later on a powerplay marker assisted by forwards Scott Dobben and Kris Hogg.
Midway through the first, Western would jump ahead again, this time on a powerplay goal by Yasmir Farmanara. Not to be outdone, the Wolves would bring the game back to square one when fifth-year senior Richard Molenaar scored his 3rd goal of the year with 3:33 remaining in the frame. The assists were given to junior forward Brock McPherson and junior defenseman Jordan Smith.
The teams battled through the entire second period, and most of the third, without either team being able to solve the opposing goaltender. Finally, with just 2:26 remaining in the game, Lakehead sophomore Kris Hogg was able to beat Western goaltender Kevan Hunt, giving the Wolves a late game 3-2 lead.
It would not be enough, however, as the Mustangs called a timeout to regroup, and with just 1:17 remaining in the contest, freshman forward Aaron Snow potted his 14th goal of the year, with assists going to Ryan Martinelli and Chris Petrow, sending the game into overtime tied at 3-3.
In overtime, the Mustangs found themselves shorthanded when Chris Petrow took a tripping penalty at the 2:54 mark, giving the Thunderwolves a crucial 4 on 3 powerplay. With just 55 seconds left on the clock, Sicamous, British Columbia native Kris Hogg picked up where he left off in the third and netted his second goal of the game from Brock Mcpherson and Andrew Brown, giving his team a 4-3 victory to close out the regular season in style.
Lakehead goaltender Chris Whitley recorded his second win of the weekend, moving to 10-3 in OUA competition this year. Whitley made 54 saves in the contest, including a huge Dominic Hasek-esque acrobatic stop on Western forward Keaton Turkiewicz in the third. On the other end of the ice, Mustangs goaltender Kevan Hunt held up his end of the bargain as well, making 32 stops in a loosing effort.
The game, especially the first period, was much rougher than the one played the previous evening, with 52 minutes in penalties being called in the first period alone, including two 10-minute misconducts. Several players took a beating in the game, including Thunderwolves defenseman Mitch Mannu and Mustangs forward Joe McCann, both of whom had to be helped from the ice after taking hard hits in the first period. Thankfully, both players would return later in the game.
The Thunderwolves powerplay went 2-6 in the game, while Western struggled with a 1-9 record when up a man.
The Molson's Three Stars were:
1) Lakehead: Chris Whitley
2) Lakehead: Richard Molenaar
3) Lakehead: Brad Priestlay
Prior to Saturdays game, the Thunderwolves honoured their seven graduating players, all of whom are fifth-year seniors with the team. The group including team captain Andrew Brown, goaltender Chris Whitley, defenseman Drew Kivell and forwards Tobias Whelan, Brad Priestley, Matt Maisonneuve and Richard Molenaar. Whelan and Kivell also serve as assistant captains on the squad.
Lakehead will be back in action on Wednesday night when they face off against the Waterloo Warriors in Game One of the first round of the OUA playoffs at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
Game Summary:
Western 3 at Lakehead 4 (OT) -
Feb 14, 2009 - Fort William Gardens
1st Period
Scoring - 1. Western, S. Peralta (9) (K. Lamb, Y. Farmanara) 1:05
2. Lakehead, K. Sagert (4) (S. Dobben, K. Hogg) 2:59 PP
3. Western, Y. Farmanara (6) (J. Martens, C. Petrow) 12:29 PP
4. Lakehead, R. Molenaar (3) (B. McPherson, J. Smith) 16:27
Penalties - A. Snow Uwo (unsportsmanlike cnd.) 1:34, D. Welsh Lkhd (unsportsmanlike cnd.) 1:34, L. Martin Uwo (roughing) 2:13, K. Baker Uwo (hooking) 4:31, S. Dobben Lkhd (slashing) 5:34, B. McPherson Lkhd (slashing) 7:19, A. Snow Uwo (checking to the head, 10-minute misconduct) 8:07, M. Soares Lkhd (roughing) 9:54, K. Hogg Lkhd (slashing) 11:49, A. Brown Lkhd (checking to the head, 10-minute misconduct) 13:09, J. Ertl Uwo (interference) 13:29, J. Ertl Uwo (charging) 15:35, Y. Farmanara Uwo (roughing) 15:35, A. Alphonso Lkhd (roughing) 15:35, A. Hyvarinen Lkhd (roughing) 15:35, J. Smith Lkhd (interference) 18:58
2nd Period
Scoring - No Scoring
Penalties - D. Speer Lkhd (hooking) 10:05, J. Smith Lkhd (slashing) 11:38, B. Priestlay Lkhd (holding) 16:59, Y. Farmanara Uwo (tripping) 19:24
3rd Period
Scoring - 5. Lakehead, K. Hogg (13) (S. Dobben, D. Kivell) 17:34
6. Western, A. Snow (14) (R. Martinelli, C. Petrow) 18:43
Penalties - No Penalties
OT Period
Scoring - 7. Lakehead, K. Hogg (14) (B. McPherson, A. Brown) 4:05 PP
Penalties - C. Petrow Uwo (high sticking) 2:34
UWO Shots: 19 15 14 3 TOTAL: 51
LKHD Shots: 11 13 9 3 TOTAL: 36
Power Play Conversion
Western 1-9.
Lakehead 2-6.
Goaltenders
Western
Hunt 9-1-1-0 Start: 1st 0:00 Min: 65:00 SV: 32 GA: 4
Lakehead
Whitley 9-3-0-0 Start: 1st 0:00 Min: 65:00 SV: 48 GA: 3