The CIS No. 6 Lakehead Thunderwolves mens hockey team hosts theUOIT Ridgebacks this Friday and Saturday night at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay. This will be the first-ever meetings between the two teams as this is the Ridgebacks first season of OUA varsity play.
Lakehead enters the weekend with an 8-2 OUA mark (9-5 overall); good for first place in the OUA Far West Division. UOIT has a 1-5-2 OUA record (3-9-2 overall) which puts them in last place in the OUA Mid West Division.
The Wolves are coming off a tough away sweep of the York Lions last weekend while the Ridgebacks got their first win of the OUA season; splitting their series with Windsor.
Lakehead Head Coach Don McKee said he expects a tough series. Marlin Muylaert, head coach of UOIT, is no stranger to OUA Hockey. He has proven his coaching skills with a great record as coach of the Guelph Gryphons for a number of years. UOIT will require one or two years to build a program that will be a serious contender for an OUA Championship but already, in the initial year, Muylaert's team has demonstrated that it can compete with the best. An 8-7 loss in OT to the York Lions and a win over Windsor shows that they have some offensive talent and should not be taken lightly by any team. Coach Muylaert likes a physical hockey team, so this week's games will be won by the team who is best prepared to go to battle. Hopefully, some large crowds, like the games against Western, will help the Wolves keep their streak of wins on home ice going.
Both games face off at 7:30 pm EST and both will be videowebcast live with ordering information available at http://events.news-cast.com/events/Lakehead. Alan Wickware will call all the action live with Lakehead Sports Information Director Mike Aylward adding colour.
Head to Head:
This will be the first-ever meetings between the teams. Lakehead has 39 goals for (4th in conference) and 27 goals against (tied 3rd conference) while UOIT has 21 goals for (last in conference) and 37 goals against (tied 3rd last in conference).
Lakehead Thunderwolves:
The Wolves had a battle on their hands last weekend in Toronto with the York Lions but showed grit to earn the away sweep. Chris Whitley continued his stellar play in the Lakehead goal; earning both victories. Whitley now has a 6-0 OUA record, a GAA of 2.26, and a SV% of .924; putting him among the nations leaders in all categories.
The line of Mark Soares (2 goals, 8 assists OUA play), Brock McPherson (5 goals, 5 assists), and Dan Speer (6 goals, 7 assists; tied for 6th in OUA scoring) were in the forefront last weekend against the Lions and their continued strong play this weekend will be key. The line combined for 9 points in Saturdays win and Speer scored one of Lakeheads two goals in Fridays win.
However, one of the three keys to Lakeheads success so far this season has been a balanced offensive attack; with scoring coming from throughout the roster. Captain Andrew Brown (6 goals, 2 assists) is tied with Speer in team OUA goal scoring while Tobias Whelan (2 goals, 6 assists) is also contributing. Linemate and freshman Kris Hogg has also scored 5 goals and 4 assists.
The Wolves are also getting strong two-way play and timely offense from players like Shandor Alphonso (4 goals, 1 assist), Richard Molenaar (2 goals, 1 assist), Brad Priestlay (1 goal, 2 assists), and Matt Maisonneuve (3 assists).
The other keys have been the strong play of Whitley in goal and the ever improving development of Lakeheads defensive corp. Their containment of opponents scoring will be crucial as the season heads into the second half. Sophomore Jordan C. Smith leads the D-Men in scoring with 1 goal and 6 assists while Andy Zulyniak has a goal and 4 assists. Pierre-Marc Guillbault has contributed 5 as