Matt Jacques had a pair of goals and Steve Rawski added three assists to lead the No. 9 Lakehead Thunderwolves mens hockey team to a rugged 4-2 win over the previously undefeated Brock Badgers Saturday night at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay.
Both team now sport a 4-1 OUA record while Lakehead is 6-4 overall and Brock is 6-1 overall.
Lakeheads other goals came from Tobias Whelan and Mike Wehrstedt and Dan Speer added a pair of helpers. Brocks goals came from Josh Bonar and Jason Harshaw. Lakehead outshot Brock 47-25 in the match.
There were a lot of penalties given out; 10 minors, 2 game misconducts, and a match penalty to Lakehead. Brock was assessed 13 minors and 1 game misconduct. The match penalty was given to Lakehead captain Jeff Richards who had just returned from missing two games due to concussion. Richards will miss the next two or three games. The Wolves were 2-12 on the powerplay while Brock was 1-10.
Lakeheads Jacques opened the scoring at 6:45 of the first on the powerplay when his low shot beat a screened Matt Harpwood in the Brock goal. Assists went to Mark Soares and Rawski. Whelan made it 2-0 Lakehad at 13:53 when his hard shot from the top of the circle got by the again screened Brock netminder. Assists went to Speer and Mark Robinson. Shots in the first were 12-9 Lakehead.
Wehrstedt made it 3-0 for the Wolves at 8:14 of the second when his shorthanded rocket from just inside the blue line flew in over the left shoulder of Harpwood. Brock Coach Murray Nystrom decided to put Tom Lee in goal for Brock at this point and Lee played very well the rest of the way for the Badgers. Brock struck back quickly at 8:25 on the powerplay when Josh Bonar beat Lakehead netminder Chris Whitley over the right shoulder with assists going to Dallas Beaton and Paul Houlder. Brock made it 3-2 at 12:49 when Jason Harshaw converted a nice pass from Nathan Hooper with the other assist going to Jonathan Labelle. Shots in the second were 14-11 Lakehead.
The third period was full of penalties and Lakehead took the play to the Badgers and Brock netminder Lee was very sharp. Jacques finally beat him at 7:23 on the powerplay when he knocked the puck between Lees pads with assists going to Speer and Rawski. Lakehead took some penalties in the middle section of the period but Brock didnt get than many dangerous opportunities due to a strong Lakehead penalty kill. Shots in the third were 21-5 Lakehead.
The Three Stars, as chosen by 580 CKPR AM News and Sports Director Bryan Wyatt, were:
1)Lakehead: Steve Rawski
2)Lakehead: Matt Jacques
3)Brock: Josh Bonar
The two teams face off again Saturday night at the Fort William Gardens at 7:30 pm EST and the game can be viewed on videowebcast with ordering info available at www.thunderwolveshockey.com.