A spirited third period comeback was not enough as the Lakehead Thunderwolves men's hockey team suffered their first home defeat of the season, 7-4 versus the CIS No. 10 Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks, Saturday night at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay.
With the loss, Lakehead drops to 6-3-1 in OUA play while Laurier improves to 6-2-1. Both teams are tied with the Waterloo Warriors for second place in the OUA West Division, one point back of the Western Mustangs.
The usual suspects, Brock McPherson, Scott Dobben, Victor Anilane and Kris Hogg scored for the Thunderwolves while Pierre-Marc Guilbault followed his two-goal Friday effort with two assists for LU.
Jeff Borrows joined teammate Paul Bradley as the Hawks' two-goal scorers, while Ryan Bellows, Clinton Pettapiece and Mitchell also found the net. Pettapiece added two assists for a three-point night.
Lakehead started slow, going down 1-0 after one period after Borrows jumped on a big rebound to score at 18:07. It was 2-0 at 4:26 of the second period when Bellows scored shortside on LU goalie Kyle Moir.
The Wolves' offence got started on a two-man advantage when McPherson scored top corner past the Hawks' Jeff MacDougald.
Laurier looked to have taken control when they scored three straight goals by the 5:08 mark of the third period, but the Thunderwolves got the Gardens booming with a three-goal run of their own. First, Dobben scored five-hole at 9:56 before Anilane shot a laser into the top left corner two minutes later. It was a 5-4 game at 17:44 when Hogg scored on the powerplay.
From there, the Hawks iced the hosts as Paul Bradley scored into Lakehead's empty net after goalie Kyle Moir was pulled, and then added an insurance marker 14 seconds later.
MacDougald got the win for Laurier with 22 saves, while Moir made 31 stops in the loss.
The Thunderwolves will look to get back on track next Friday and Saturday when they host the Toronto Varsity Blues.