The Lakehead Thunderwolves hockey team wound up the OUA regular season with a 4-2 win over the Waterloo Warriors at the Columbia Ice Field in Waterloo, Ontario on Saturday night.
Lakehead Captain Jordan Smith scored for the second night in row to open the scoring at 8:24 of the first period on a goal assisted by Matt Caria. This weekend was the first OUA action for both players since January 22nd, as both were in Turkey representing Canada at the World University Games.
Josh Schappert of Waterloo tied the game up at 1-1 when he beat Lakehead goalie Alex Dupuis at 6:54 of the second period on a power play goal. The Thunderwolves returned the favor at 12:19, when Ryan McDonald also scored on the power play off a feed by Caria, to give Lakehead a 2-1 lead heading into the third period.
Special teams continued to play a role in the final frame, as Waterloos Kirt Hill evened the score at 4:26 while the Warriors had the man advantage. Both team continued to trade chances in the third, but Andy Hyvarinen broke the deadlock at 18:30 when he ripped a shot past Waterloo netminder Keaton Hartigan for the winner. Caria iced the game with an empty netter at 19:47 to seal the victory for the Wolves at 4-2.
The win gives Lakehead an OUA record of 16-9-3, good for 35 points and third place in the hotly contested West Division.
This sets up a rematch between the Wolves and the sixth place Warriors in the first round of the playoffs. Game one will be played Wednesday night in Waterloo, before the best-of-three series shifts back to the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay for game two on Friday. If necessary, game three will go Saturday night at the Gardens as well.
Tickets for next Fridays game will go on sale at the Fort William Gardens box office on Monday.