In the final game of the regular season, the Lakehead Thunderwolves edged the Waterloo Warriors 3-2 in overtime in front of 2430 fans at the Fort William Gardens on Saturday night.
Thunderwolves goalie Jeff Bosch was outstanding, and forward Mike Hammond was clutch for the second night in a row to pace the Lakehead victory.
The Warriors came out in the first period the hungrier of the two teams, as they were in desperate need of a win in order to make the playoffs.
Kain Allicock got Waterloo on the board early on when he broke in down the left side and fired a hard wrist-shot past Bosch.
The Warriors led 2-0 after Brett Mackie tipped a Justin Larson point shot on a delayed penalty call at 7:29 of the first.
While Lakehead may have lacked intensity in the first period, the Wolves woke up in the second period and started to assert themselves physically and put more shots on the Waterloo net.
It paid off in the form of a short-handed marker - a strong suit for the Wolves all year- when Ryan Magill broke in and put the puck past Warrior goaltender Mike Morrisson. Andrew Wilkins and Chris de la Lande recorded the assists.
Just 32 seconds into the third period, Cody Alcock knotted the score at 2-2 on a one-timer off a nice feed from Mike Hammond. Jake Carrick had the second assist on the power play goal.
Waterloo had a distinct 35-21 edge in shots at the end of regulation play, but Bosch kept Lakehead in the game with several timely stops, and he kept his stellar play up in the overtime period as well, including a big pad save on a Colin Behenna penalty shot.
It looked like the game was headed for a shootout, but then with only 13 seconds remaining in the extra frame, Hammond danced through the Waterloo defense and snapped a terrific shot over Morrissons shoulder, sealing the come from behind 3-2winfor the Wolves.
The final shots on goal tally was 40-24 in favor of Waterloo.
The Molson Three Stars of the game were:
1.Jeff Bosch, Lakehead
2.Mike Hammond, Lakehead
3.Andrew Wilkins, Lakehead
As the second seed in the OUA West Division, Lakehead will meet seventh-place York in the best-of-three quarter-final round of the playoffs. Game one will be played at York on Wednesday night, with the series shifting back to Lakehead for game two on Friday night, and if necessary, game three on Saturday.