10/3/2008: ST. MARY\'S - 1 @ LAKEHEAD - 3

WOLVES DOWN HUSKIES 3-1

Mike Aylward
Friday, October 03, 2008

The Lakehead Thunderwolves men’s hockey team skated to a 3-1 win over the Saint Mary’s Huskies Friday night at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay, Ontario.  The win puts the Wolves overall record at 2-1 with St. Mary’s going to 2-3.

Lakehead was led by last year’s OUA scoring champion Dan Speer with a goal and an assist and All Canadian d-man Jordan C. Smith also notching a goal and a helper.  Lakehead’s other marker came from Captain Andrew Brown.  Mark Soares added two assists for the Wolves.  Garrett Peters played a strong game for the Huskies and scored their lone tally.

Saint Mary’s netminder Brandon Verge made a number of big saves for the Huskies while Lakehead’s Kyle Moir was sharp when he had to be.  Shots on goal on the night were 37-23 in favour of the Wolves.  Lakehead was 2-4 on the powerplay while Saint Mary’s went 0-2. 

Saint Mary’s came out quickly and buzzed the Wolves early with a fast paced attack.  Garrett Peters got the Huskies on the board early at 2:23; set up by David MacDonald and Andrew White.  Things were looking grim for the Wolves as the Huskies looked sharp and controlled play for the first 15 minutes while the Wolves looked confused by their speedy opponents.  However, Lakehead, buoyed by the hustle of Brown; began to really pick it up in the last five minutes and had some good scoring opportunities with Saint Mary’s Verge making two good saves in the final part of the period.  Shots were 10-8 Saint Mary’s in the first period.

The Wolves came out flying in the second and Brown’s hustle was rewarded at the 47 second mark; set up nicely by Tobias Whelan.  The Wolves kept up the pressure through most of the second and took the 2-1 lead on the powerplay at 15:21 when Smith fired a blast past Verge; assisted by Speer and Mark Soares.  Lakehead peppered Verge for much of the period but the Huskies netminder made a number of fine saves.  Shots on goal were 20-7 Lakehead in the second.

Lakehead came out fast again in the third for the first five minutes but the Huskies began to find their balance and play balanced out through the midway mark of the period.  Play picked up and went end to end but it was the Wolves who struck again at 12:54 when Speer, set up with a beautiful long pass from Mark Soares, used his strength to beat a Huskies d-man and knock it past Verge.  The other assist went to Jordan C. Smith .  Saint Mary’s had some good pressure of their own and Lakehead’s Moir made some good saves; including two in the final seconds when the Huskies had the extra attacker on.  Shots in the third were 9-6 Lakehead.   

The Molson's Three Stars, as chosen by Bryan Wyatt, were:
1) Lakehead: Jordan C. Smith
2) Lakehead: Dan Speer
3) Lakehead: Andrew Brown   

The two teams meet again Saturday night at 7:30 pm EST at the Gardens.  Saturday night’s rematch will be videowebcast live on a pay-per-view basis 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.  Lakehead Sports Info Director Mike Aylward will be calling the game live with Dr. Bryan Schroeder handling the colour duties with the broadcasts beginning each night at 7:20 pm EST.