The No. 3 Lakehead Thunderwolves ended a weekend of frustration on a positive note as the Wolves skated past the University of Toronto Blues 6-3. The win puts the Thunderwolves' record to 9-2-1 in OUA play (13-3-1 overall) and Toronto's record falls to 2-8-2 in OUA play (2-12-2 overall). The Thunderwolves had run into hot goaltending in the previous two nights vs. Windsor and Toronto, but Sunday the Wolves' offense finally broke out at the expense of Toronto goaltender Ryan Grinnell. The Thunderwolves outshot Toronto 40-19 in the game.
The weekend's action puts the Thunderwolves in second place in the OUA Far West Division with 19 points at the end of the first half of the OUA regular season. Lakehead sits one point behind Western who enter the break with a 10-2 record. Lakehead was led by Matt Keny with a goal and two assists, and strong play from the line of Mike Wehrstedt, Leon Cooper, and Austin Wycisk. Cooper had a goal, Wehrstedt a goal and an assist and Wycisk one assist. Murray Magill, Chris Shaffer, and Bryan Duce had the other Lakehead markers. Steve Hoar, Mark Hynes, and Tyler Middlebrook scored for the Blues.
The Thunderwolves came out on fire in the first, taking the play to Toronto from the opening faceoff. Matt Kenny opened the scoring at 5:11, assisted by Jeff Richards and Mike Jacobsen. Lakehead made it 2-0 soon after at 6:29 when Leon Cooper beat Toronto goaltender Grinnell. Assists went to Mike Wehrstedt and Austin Wycisk. Murray Magill made it 3-0 at 8:41, assisted by Bryan Duce and Jason Lange. Wehrstedt gave Lakehead a 4-0 lead at 17:16, when he beat Grinnell from the right side of the Toronto goal, after he was set up by a great pass from Matt Kenny.
The referee had a strong effect on the second period as he called eight minor penalties to Lakehead and only two to Toronto. Lakehead had to fight a two-man disadvantage three times during the period. Steve Hoar made it 4-1 when he scored at 4:28. Lakehead's Chris Shaffer made it 5-1 during a Lakehead powerplay when he scored from the side at 5:42, assisted by Richards and Kenny. This goal caused Toronto to replace Grinnel with Tim Knight. Lakehead then drew another of their penalties, and Mark Hynes scored for the Blues on the powerplay at 16:44. Tyler Middlebrook made it 5-3 at 18:52 when he beat Lakehead's McCune with another powerplay goal.
Lakehead played a more defensive style in the third; fore-checking the Blues tightly, and not allowing. Both teams had a few chances, but nothing like the first two periods. The third featured a massive check by Lakehead's Hugo Lehoux on Toronto's Ian Malcolm. Lakehead put the pressure on during the last seven minutes and were rewarded when Bryan Duce made it 6-3 at 18:08. The assist went to Murray Magill.
Lakehead Head Coach was very happy with his team's effort Sunday night. "The guys played awesome tonight! Our third period was the best of the weekend, we forechecked, hit, and just didn't allow Toronto any room on the ice to close out the game. We're not that happy with this 3 point weekend, but having said that, we had a good game today so we'll turn the page and build on today for the future."
Lakehead now goes on its Christmas Break. Their next action will be at home in Thunder Bay when they stage the second annual Bell Varsity Cup Tournament featuring the Thunderwolves, UNB, Calgary, and York.