The Lakehead Thunderwolves hockey team will host the Ryerson Rams this Friday and Saturday at the Fort William Gardens, with the opening face-off set for 7:30 both nights.
Last Time Out
Lakehead collected one point on last weekends road trip to Brock and Western Ontario. That point was garnered in a 4-3 overtime loss at Brock on Friday, followed by a 5-1 defeat to the Western Ontario Mustangs in London the following night.
Ryerson won both of its games last week; a 3-2 overtime win at Guelph on Thursday night, and then a 5-1 victory over Waterloo at home on Saturday.
First Place on the Line
Coming into this series, Ryerson sits atop the OUA West Division with a record of 14-5-0 in 19 games played, good for 28 points. But with 27 points and an OUA record of 13-4-1, Lakehead is right behind Ryerson in second place and has played one less game than the Rams. This weekend could go a long way in determining which team takes the regular-season division title.
Series History
Lakehead has never lost to Ryerson as the Thunderwolves have an all-time record of 8-0 versus the Rams. But this will be a much more formidable Ryerson club than the Wolves have played in the past.
Ryerson and Toronto (Lakeheads previous home opponent) both shifted from the East Division over to the West Division this season as part of the OUAs realignment, so similarly to Lakeheads last home stand, this weekend will mark the first time that the two squads have met as division rivals.
About the Rams
Ryerson is led by Head Coach Graham Wise, now in his eighth season behind the Rams bench. Prior to that, Wise coached York for 19 years, so his 27 total campaigns make him the Dean of OUA coaches.
The Rams have an explosive offense, and lead the entire OUA with 87 goals scored so far this season. Forwards Jamie Wise and Dominic Alberga are one and two in OUA scoring with 35 and 34 points respectively, and freshman defenceman Peter Hermenegildo is not far behind in 11th place with 26 points.
Ryersons goaltending duties have been split between Junior Troy Passingham and freshman Adam Courchaine. Between the two, Passingham has posted more impressive stats thus far with a goals against average of 2.46 compared to Courchaines 3.84.