The No. 3 Lakehead Thunderwolves battled to a very tough 4-3 win over the Brock Badgers in Game 2 of their best-of-three OUA Semi Final playoff series Friday night before 3750 fans at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay, Ont. The win evens the series at one game apiece with the deciding game Saturday night in Thunder Bay.
It was a game of surges with Lakehead building a 4-1 lead after the first period; Brock scoring two in the second in a period filled with Lakehead shots, and neither team scoring in the third; though the Badgers had four excellent final stanza opportunities. Lakehead hit four posts on the night while the Badgers had a seeming goal disallowed as play had been blown dead.
Lakehead now has a 3-2 OUA playoff record; (26-6-1 OUA overall). Brock also goes to 3-2 in the OUA playoffs (20-10-3 OUA overall).
Lakeheads scoring came from Dan Rogers, Mark Soares, Shandor Alphonso, and Dan Speer while Tobias Whelan notched two assists. Jonathan Labelle played a very strong game for the Badgers with two goals and an assist.
Brock netminder Matt Harpwood played another strong game; making a series of key saves in the first two periods to keep the Badgers within striking distance. Lakehead goaltender Chris Whitley had a slow start but was huge in the third period; making four key saves; including a game saver with 18 seconds left in the third period when the Badgers had the powerplay and pulled their goalie to play 6-on-4.
Shots on goal in the game were 38-28 Lakehead. Brock was 1-3 with the man advantage while Lakehead went 0-5.
The Molsons Three Stars, as chosen by Leith Dunick of the Thunder Bay Source, were:
1)Lakehead Tobias Whelan
2)Brock: Matt Harpwood
3)Lakehead: Dan Rogers
The series deciding Game 3 will go Saturday night at the Gardens at 7:30 pm EST. The games in Thunder Bay will be videowebcast live with ordering information available at http://events.news-cast.com/events/Lakehead. Viewers will need hi speed internet and Windows Media Player to watch the broadcasts. Alan Wickware will call the action live with Lakehead Sports Information Director Mike Aylward handling the pre-game and colour. The games will also be broadcast live on CKPR 91.5 FM Radio (www.ckpr.com online) with Bryan Wyatt calling the action live and Jonas Gilbart handling the pre-game and intermission duties.
The winner of tomorrows game will earn a berth at the CIS National Championships in Moncton at the end of March and the right to host the OUA Queens Cup Championship Game next weekend against the McGill Redmen; OUA East Champions. McGill defeated UQTR 2-1 Friday night in Montreal to win their series 2-0.
Lakehead Thunderwolves vs. Brock Badgers Game Summary:
Brock 3 at Lakehead 4
1st Period
Scoring - 1. Lakehead, D. Rogers (1) (T. Whelan, A. Zulyniak) 5:11
2. Brock, J. Labelle (3) (P. Holder, J. Martin) 7:07 PP
3. Lakehead, M. Soares (4) (T. Whelan) 15:02
4. Lakehead, S. Alphonso (1) (M. Wehrstedt) 16:36
5. Lakehead, D. Speer (1) (B. McPherson) 18:28
Penalties - J. Smith Lak (high sticking) 7:03, J. Martin Broc (interference) 19:41
2nd Period
Scoring - 6. Brock, J. Pell (1) (P. Holder, J. Labelle) 5:31
7. Brock, J. Labelle (4) (B. Giroux, C. McLean) 7:41
Penalties - T. Whelan Lak (cross checking) 5:26, J. Martin Broc (unsportsmanlike cnd.) 5:31, S. Alphonso Lak (unsportsmanlike cnd.) 5:31, B. Giroux Broc (unsportsmanlike cnd.) 5:33, T. BROCK Broc (too many men) 12:49, M. Harpwood Broc (delay of game) 15:31, G. Bradley Broc (roughing) 19:56, M. Soares Lak (unsportsmanlike cnd.) 19:56
3rd Period
Scoring - No Scoring
Penaltie